Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II with incarcerated male offenders aged 18-21 years.
BACKGROUND
The Beck Depression Inventory - Second Edition (BDI-II) is a self-report measure of depression. Studies have shown it to have good psychometric properties with adult and adolescent clinical and non-clinical populations. However, this research has mostly been conducted with North American samples.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the psychometric characteristics of the BDI-II with male young adult offenders in the UK.


METHODS
The BDI-II was administered to 117 incarcerated male young adult offenders aged 18-21 years from the UK.


RESULTS
The BDI-II showed good internal consistency and concurrent validity. Factor analysis revealed two factors, relating to cognitive-affective items and somatic items. The items loading on the two factors were very similar to those found in a North American adolescent (13-17 years) psychiatric inpatient sample. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: The findings suggest that the BDI-II can be used with confidence in young adult male offenders. It would be useful to confirm its psychometric properties in other offender samples and establish offender population norms.
Palmer
Emma J
EJ
Clinical Division of Psychiatry, Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK. ejp8@le.ac.uk
Binks
Claire
C
D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000592:standards; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D055815:Young Adult