The Beck Depression Inventory is created as an instrument for identifying a medical diagnosis of depression in adults ages 17 to 80. As such, the items or concerns all associate with depression symptoms, including hopelessness and irritability, cognitions such as guilt or feelings of being punished. In addition, the Beck Depression Inventory is also composed of items relating to the physical symptoms of depression, such as tiredness, weight-loss, and lack of interest in sex.
When it was first released in 1961, the original Beck Depression Inventory was comprised of 21 questions about exactly how the subject was feeling in the last week. For each question, there are at least 4 possible answer choices, varying in intensity, with each answer designated a value of 0-3.
There are some statements that are designated with the very same rating. Thus, under the heading “mood”, there are 2 possible responses with the very same value of 2, I am blue or sad all the time, and I cannot snap out of it, and 2b, I am so sad or miserable that it is very agonizing.
After the test is finished, the value of each statement is added, and the overall score is then compared to a key to determine the severity of the depression. In the original Beck Depression Inventory, if the subject received higher overall scores, this indicates a more extreme depressive condition.
Then in 1971, Dr. Beck released the BDI-IA, which was intended to be an update to the original Beck Depression Inventory. This variation of the Beck Depression Inventory got rid of any a and b statements in the test in order to make it easier. Another change that was introduced was an additional statement to every item, asking patients to define if they felt any of the following within the past 2 weeks.
Although the items on the inventory are extremely associated with each other, according to its Cronbachs alpha coefficient rating of 0.85, lots of researchers explained that the questions asked were only able to address six of the 9 DSM-III criteria used to diagnose depression.
To address these weak areas, a 1996 revision was made to the existing version of the Beck Depression Inventory. This brand-new inventory also covered the brand-new criteria in the DSM-IV, released in 1994 by the American Psychiatric Association in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition Unique Mindcare .
