title: Validation of the Beck Depression Inventory II in HIV-positive patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Research on depression among HIV-positive patients has been limited by the lack of a valid and reliable measure of depression. This project addresses this problem by exploring the internal consistency reliability and the concurrent and discriminant validity of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) using HIV-positive patients in Jamaica.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients from three HIV clinics in Jamaica (n = 191 patients; 61% female, 39% male, mean age 40.5-10 years) were administered the BDI-II along with the Centre for Epidemiological Studies -Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Social Provisions Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the BDI-II was found to have a high degree of reliability (alpha = 0.89). The scale also had good concurrent validity as evidenced by a high correlation with scores on the CES-D (r = 0.74) and acceptable discriminant validity as demonstrated through a moderate correlation with the Social Provisions Scale (r = -0.42). This pattern of scores suggests that the majority of the variance underlying the BDI-II assesses depression (55%) while a smaller degree of the variability (18%) measures a conceptually similar but distinct concept.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BDI-II is a sufficiently reliable and valid measure for assessing depression in HIV-positive patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work, The University of the West Indies, Kingston 7, Jamaica, West Indies. garth.lipps@uwimona.edu.jm
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Lipps
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Lowe
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: De La Haye
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Longman-Mills
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.forename: E N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bain
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors