The psychometric properties of Beck Depression Inventory for adolescent depression in a primary-care paediatric setting in India
2007

Beck Depression Inventory for Adolescents in India

Sample size: 181 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Basker Mona, Moses Prabhakar D, Russell Sushila, Russell Paul Swamidhas Sudhakar

Primary Institution: Christian Medical College, Vellore

Hypothesis

The study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for identifying depression in adolescents in a primary care setting in India.

Conclusion

The BDI is a reliable and valid tool for screening and diagnosing depression among adolescents in primary care settings in India.

Supporting Evidence

  • The BDI showed good test-retest reliability with an intra-class correlation of 0.82.
  • The internal consistency of the BDI was high with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.96.
  • The BDI demonstrated high convergent validity with the Children's Depression Rating Scale (r = 0.72, p = 0.001).
  • A cut-off score of ≥ 5 provided a sensitivity of 90.9% for screening.
  • A cut-off score of ≥ 22 provided a specificity of 90.0% for diagnostic use.

Takeaway

The Beck Depression Inventory helps doctors find out if teenagers are feeling very sad or depressed, which is important for getting them the help they need.

Methodology

181 adolescents were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory and other scales to evaluate its psychometric properties.

Potential Biases

Potential selection bias due to the inclusion criteria of literacy in English.

Limitations

The low prevalence of depression in the sample may limit the power of the sensitivity analyses, and the requirement for participants to read and write English may introduce selection bias.

Participant Demographics

The mean age of participants was 15.6 years, with a slight overrepresentation of boys (105 boys and 73 girls).

Statistical Information

P-Value

0.001

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1753-2000-1-8

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