title: Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II: a comprehensive review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) as a self-report measure of depression in a variety of settings and populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant studies of the BDI-II were retrieved through a search of electronic databases, a hand search, and contact with authors. Retained studies (k = 118) were allocated into three groups: non-clinical, psychiatric/institutionalized, and medical samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The internal consistency was described as around 0.9 and the retest reliability ranged from 0.73 to 0.96. The correlation between BDI-II and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-I) was high and substantial overlap with measures of depression and anxiety was reported. The criterion-based validity showed good sensitivity and specificity for detecting depression in comparison to the adopted gold standard. However, the cutoff score to screen for depression varied according to the type of sample. Factor analysis showed a robust dimension of general depression composed by two constructs: cognitive-affective and somatic-vegetative.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BDI-II is a relevant psychometric instrument, showing high reliability, capacity to discriminate between depressed and non-depressed subjects, and improved concurrent, content, and structural validity. Based on available psychometric evidence, the BDI-II can be viewed as a cost-effective questionnaire for measuring the severity of depression, with broad applicability for research and clinical practice worldwide.
authors.affiliation: Institute & Department of Psychiatry (LIM-23), School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São PauloSP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Yuan-Pang
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute & Department of Psychiatry (LIM-23), School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo (USP), São PauloSP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Clarice
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gorenstein
mesh_terms: D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires