[Reliability and validity of the Revised Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Results from German samples].
BACKGROUND
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) underwent revision in 1996 (BDI-II) with the goal of addressing DSM-IV depression criteria. The present study assessed psychometric properties of the German version of the BDI-II.


METHODS
The BDI-II was translated into German and evaluated in a series of studies with clinical and nonclinical samples.


RESULTS
The content validity of the BDI-II has improved by following DSM-IV symptom criteria. Internal consistency was satisfactorily high (alpha>or=0.84), and retest reliability exceeded r>or=0.75 in nonclinical samples. Associations with construct-related scales (depression, dysfunctional cognitive constructs) were high, while those with nonsymptomatic personality assessment (NEO-FFI) were lower. The BDI-II differentiated well between different grades of depression and was sensitive to change.


CONCLUSIONS
The German BDI-II demonstrates good reliability and validity in clinical and nonclinical samples. It may now replace the older version of the BDI for assessing self-rated severity of depression and course of depressed symptoms under treatment.
Kühner
C
C
Abteilung Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Universitätsklinikum Ulm. kuehner@zi-mannheim.de
Bürger
C
C
Keller
F
F
Hautzinger
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014175:Translating