A short version of the Beck Depression Inventory without omission of clinical indicators

The original Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-O) consists of 21 item groups. Each contains four options (i.e., 84 overall statements). The proposed short BDI version contains only 21 statements denoting the highest degree of clinical depression, i.e., the last alternative in each item group. Items of the short version were introduced in two response forms: Likert (L) and Yes/No (Y/N) format. Two depression subscales derived from the Symptom Check List-90 and the Hopkins Symptom Check List were also used. A sample of 203 male and female volunteer Kuwaiti undergraduates was recruited. It was found that the BDI-O had relatively lesser skew and kurtosis. However the M/SD ratio was well balanced in the BDI-L and not in the original BDI-Y/N versions. Cronbach's alpha, correlations with four other scales, and loadings onto two separate factors of depression were high in both BDI-O and BDI-L - although they were higher in the BDI-L. It also had improved factorial structure. Nevertheless, the proposed short BDI-L version contains only one-fourth of the BDI-O without deleting any of its symptom indicators. Therefore, it was concluded that the short BDI-L version can make a good contribution to enhancing the BDI cost-effectiveness, especially in empirical research projects containing loaded test batteries.