An Examination of the History, Development, and Uses of the Beck Depression Inventory

An Examination of the History, Development, and Uses of the Beck embossment account Maya A. Butler Richmont Graduate University Dr. Aaron Beck is a psychiatrist widely known for ontogeny the Beck Depression size up (BDI) a self-assessment actor utilize to assess the validity of low in adolescents and adults. During his work, Beck highlighted the negative thoughts experienced by his patients, and believed it was these thoughts that ca white plague depression at bottom them.From here, Beck developed a three-part thought process that exhibited how a persons negative view of the world, their future, and themselves affected their depression level ( chocolate-brown, Hammond, Craske, & Wickens, 1995). These comp binglents were used to wee what we have come to know as the Beck Depression Inventory. Throughout mental riddleing development of the BDI, three separate instruments were created the BDI, BDI-IA, and BDI-II.The first BDI was developed in 1961 by Aaron Beck, Clyde Ward, M yer Mendelson, John Mock, and John Erbaugh. It could be administered individually or in a group format, in written or oral form, and the test manual of arms indicated total administration time to be no more than 15 minutes, irrespective of the mode of administration (Carlson, p. 117-118). It consisted of twenty-one straitss that measured the patients feelings within the past week. Each interrogate had four possible resultant choices that dropd in depression intensity.In give to score the test, a value amidst zero and three was assigned to each answer, added, and compared to a key in order to determine the patients depression severity. Scores from the BDI could range from 0 to 63, and higher scores indicated severer depression symptoms. Some of the answer items on the BDI had identical numerical value to them, though the statements were not identical. This led to revise of the BDI and introduction of the BDI-IA (Beck, Steer, and Garbin, 1988). The BDI-IA was developed in 1971 by Beck and copyrighted in 1978.In order to make the test more user-friendly and efficient in touchstone depression, similar answer items with identical scoring on a question were removed, and test subjects were asked to evaluate their feelings for a time frame of two weeks kind of of one (Beck, Steel, Ball, and Ranieri, 1996). Using the Cronbachs alpha coefficient of reliability, it was determined the BDI-IA reliability was just about 0. 85, suggesting that items on the BDI-IA are highly correlated with one another (Ambrosini, Metz, Bianchi, Rabinovich, and Undie, 1991).However, one of the main problems with this instrument was its inability to address all nine criteria for depression in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental turnoers-III (DSM-III). In reply to this, the BDI-II was developed. In 1996, the BDI-II was introduced mainly due to the release of revised criteria for Major Depressive Disorder in the DSM-IV in 1994. Some of the changes made to the BDI-II were the replacement of items that measured changes in body image, work difficulty, and hypochondria.In increment to this, items that measured sleep loss and zest loss were changed to examine increases and decreases in both sleep and appetite. The entire question wording was changed on the BDI-II except questions used to measure sexual interest, unsafe thoughts, and questions dealing with feelings of being punished. In addition to this, the measuring scale used to evaluate the total points from the BDI-II was changed. When compared with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Pearson correlation coefficient between this test and the BDI-II was 0. 1, which proves both instruments agree with one another (Beck, Steel, Ball, and Ranieri, 1996). In addition to this, the BDI-II has a Cronbachs alpha coefficient of 0. 92, surpassing its predecessor the BDI. In addition to up the relation between its instrument items, the BDI-II burn be scored and interpreted via figurer software. The BDI- II has expanded well beyond its original intended application with psychiatric populations. In addition to its continued use among this population, it is accepted and commonly used by clinicians as a screening instrument among normal populations (Carlson, p. 17). Because it is knowing to reflect the depth of depression, it can be used to monitor changes over time, and objectively measure the likelihood of improvement and the effectiveness of treatment methods (Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, and Erbaugh, 1961). The facts ache that the BDI-II is a simple measure that encompasses the majority of symptoms associated with depression, is easily and rapidly administered, and can be scored and interpreted via computer software. However, it is only a quality instrument when it is used in samples with cooperative subjects not exaggerated or minify by the erson completing the instrument (Waller, p. 121). In cases where a person could be motivated to deceive or malinger, the administrator is a dvised to use redundant or less transparent means of assessment (Carlson, p. 119). In addition to this, the intent and purpose for using the BDI-II is for assessment and not diagnosis. Improper use of this assessment for diagnosing can create falsely positive or negative results. References Ambrosini PJ, Metz C, Bianchi MD, Rabinovich H, Undie A (January 1991). Concurrent validity and psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory in outpatient adolescents.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 30 (1) 517. inside10. 1097/00004583-199101000-00008. PMID 2005064. http//www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/sites/entrez. Beck AT, Steer RA, Ball R, Ranieri W (December 1996). Comparison of Beck Depression Inventories -IA and -II in psychiatric outpatients. Journal of Personality Assessment 67 (3) 58897. doi10. 1207/s15327752jpa6703_13. PMID 8991972. http//www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/sites/entrez. Beck AT, Steer RA, Garbin MG J (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory cardinal years of evaluation. Clin. Psych. Review 8 77-100.Beck AT, Ward CH, Mendelson M, Mock J, Erbaugh J (June 1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 4 (6) 56171. doi10. 1001/archpsyc. 1961. 01710120031004. PMID 13688369. Brown GP, Hammen CL, Craske MG, Wickens TD (August 1995). Dimensions of dysfunctional attitudes as vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 104 (3) 4315. doi10. 1037/0021-843X. 104. 3. 431. PMID 7673566. http//content. apa. org/journals/abn/104/3/431. (2012, 10). Beck Depression Inventory. StudyMode. com. Retrieved 10, 2012, from http//www. studymode. com/essays/Beck-Depression-Inventory-617021. html