title: Psychometric properties and validity of Beck Depression Inventory II in multiple sclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Depression is the most common psychiatric disorder in multiple sclerosis (MS). Self-report depression scales are frequently used as screening, diagnostic and grading instruments. This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II) for assessing depressive disorders in a sample of Italian MS patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 141 consecutive non-demented MS patients who completed the BDI-II and the Chicago Multiscale Depression Inventory (CMDI). MS patients also completed a clinical interview, a neurological/neuropsychological examination and a Fatigue Severity Score (FSS) questionnaire in order to assess divergent validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The BDI-II showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.89) and good convergent and divergent validity. With respect to CMDI serving as the 'gold standard', the receiver operating characteristic curve revealed that BDI-II is an adequate diagnostic measure and that the optimum total cut-off score was 18.5. Such score identified clinically relevant depressive symptoms in 25.5% of our MS sample.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The BDI-II is a simple, reliable and valid tool for detecting and grading depressive symptoms in Italian MS patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6623-4649
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sacco
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Santangelo
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.|Multiprofile Hospital for Active Treatment in Neurology and Psychiatry 'St. Naum', Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stamenova
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bisecco
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonavita
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lavorgna
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy.|Salvatore Maugeri Foundation, Scientific Institute of Telese, Telese Terme (BN), Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0328-9642
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trojano
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: D'Ambrosio
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.|Neurological Institute for Diagnosis and Care 'Hermitage Capodimonte', Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tedeschi
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical, Surgical, Neurological, Metabolic and Aging Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gallo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Beck Depression Inventory II; Chicago Multiscale Depression Inventory; depression; multiple sclerosis