Beck Depression Inventory
Beck Depression Inventory Analysis
Miguel Carrasco, Holly England, Sunny Ledding, Robert Pope, Melanie Simpson
Psy/475
February 16, 2011
Heather Suggs
Beck Depression Inventory Analysis
Each year about 15 million adult Americans suffer from clinical depression. That is 8% of the American population age 18 and over (Depression Treatment, Signs, Medication, Causes, Test at Clinical Depression Center, 2010). Often people are depressed but unaware of the numerous treatments available to them. Seeking professional help from a physician or therapist is the first step to receive the proper treatment. There are various ways for a psychologist to determine if a person suffers from depression. One way to aid in the diagnosis is to use the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The BDI is a self administered test that measures the patient’s experiences and symptoms that are associated with depression. This paper includes a summary of two articles, comparing and contrasting these articles, and determining who is qualified to administer the BDI. Differentiating between the populations for which the BDI measures and whether the test is valid or invalid are also discussed.
Summary of 1st BDI Article The article summarized is a review of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) by Janet F. Carlson, Associate Professor, Counseling and Psychological Services Department, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY. The BDI is a well-known and widely used self report inventory that was implemented for the purpose of finding the severity of depression in adults and adolescents. In 1961 Beck and his associates developed the BDI and later revised the report in 1971, at which time it was introduced to the Center for Cognitive Therapy (CCT) at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School (Beck & Steer, 1993). Carlson (2010) discusses in this article the Applications, Administering, Scoring, and Interpretation, Technical Aspects, and Critiques of the BDI.
Miguel Carrasco, Holly England, Sunny Ledding, Robert Pope, Melanie Simpson
Psy/475
February 16, 2011
Heather Suggs
Beck Depression Inventory Analysis
Each year about 15 million adult Americans suffer from clinical depression. That is 8% of the American population age 18 and over (Depression Treatment, Signs, Medication, Causes, Test at Clinical Depression Center, 2010). Often people are depressed but unaware of the numerous treatments available to them. Seeking professional help from a physician or therapist is the first step to receive the proper treatment. There are various ways for a psychologist to determine if a person suffers from depression. One way to aid in the diagnosis is to use the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The BDI is a self administered test that measures the patient’s experiences and symptoms that are associated with depression. This paper includes a summary of two articles, comparing and contrasting these articles, and determining who is qualified to administer the BDI. Differentiating between the populations for which the BDI measures and whether the test is valid or invalid are also discussed.
Summary of 1st BDI Article The article summarized is a review of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) by Janet F. Carlson, Associate Professor, Counseling and Psychological Services Department, State University of New York at Oswego, Oswego, NY. The BDI is a well-known and widely used self report inventory that was implemented for the purpose of finding the severity of depression in adults and adolescents. In 1961 Beck and his associates developed the BDI and later revised the report in 1971, at which time it was introduced to the Center for Cognitive Therapy (CCT) at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School (Beck & Steer, 1993). Carlson (2010) discusses in this article the Applications, Administering, Scoring, and Interpretation, Technical Aspects, and Critiques of the BDI.
References: Beck, A. T., & Steer, R. (1993). Beck Depression Inventory [1993 Revised]. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Beck, A.T., Ward, C.H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Carlson, J. (2010). Beck Depression Inventory [1993 Revised] . The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska and the Buros Center for Testing, 13(31),. Doi: Mental Measurements Yearbook Depression Treatment, Signs, Medication, Causes, Test at Clinical Depression Center (2010). Depression statistics – facts. teen depression. Retrieved from http://depressiontreatmenthelp.org/depression-statistics.php DSM-IV (2000). American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th ed. ISBN 0890420254 Luty, J., & O’Gara, C. (2006). International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. Vol. 10 Issue 1, p45-51, 7p, 4 Charts; DOI: 10.1080/13651500500410117 The Psychological Corporation. (n.d.). Beck Depression Inventory - 2nd Edition. Retrieved from http://www.cps.nova.edu/~cpphelp/BDI2.html