Validity of the simplified Beck Depression Inventory

A simplified version of the Beck Depression Inventory was administered to participants of a demographically heterogenous sample (n = 200) and to three clinical samples (Major Depressive Disorder, n = 60; Anxiety and Eating Disorders, n = 11; Schizophrenia, n = 400). The reliability of the simplified BDI (.93) exceeded the reliability of the original BDI (.84) and the reliabilities of four other depression scales. Both BDI versions converge well on the level of symptoms (average correlation = .70 in the total sample) and on the level of sum scores (r = .91 in the total sample). Both BDI versions correlate equally high with other self-report measures of depression (average correlation = .70) and an expert rating of depression (Hamilton-Scale, r = .50) Both versions discriminate depressed individuals about equally well from normal individuals. They also discriminate about equally well between clinical samples. Confirmatory factor analyses show a slight deviation from perfect measurement equivalence (1.00 greater than or equal to r greater than or equal to .95). This deviation from perfect equivalence is trivially low with regard to practical applications of the BDI. It is concluded that the simplified BDI measures depression equally well but more efficiently than the original BDI. The simplified version is therefore especially suitable for large scale epidemiological screenings.