Psychological Testing Flashcards
Review
What are the features of the Becks Depression Inventory?
The Beck Depression Inventory is a self-report assessment of depressive symptoms over the last 2 weeks, not 1 week. There is a total of 21 questions. The items assessed include feelings of sadness, changes in sleep, anhedonia, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, loss of energy, concentration difficulty, changes in appetite, psychomotor activity, suicidal ideation, pessimism, sense of failure, punishment feelings, self-dislike, self-criticism, crying spells, indecisiveness, irritability, level of impairment, interest in others, preoccupation with health, and loss of interest in sex. Each item has 4 possible choices with 0 being normal and 3 as the most severe presentation of that particular symptom. The maximum number of points that an individual can receive on this assessment is 63. A score of 1-13 is indicative of minimal depression; 14-19 is indicative of mild depression; 20-28 is indicative of moderate depression; and 29-63 is indicative of severe depression. Internal consistency has been high in various studies; however, test-retest reliability has not been consistently high due to changes in depressive symptoms over time.
