Adaptación española del Inventario para la Depresión de Beck-II (BDI-II)2. Propiedades psicométricas en población general

Abstract

This is the first study that provides normative data, reliability and factor validity for the Spanish adaptation of Beck’s Depression Inventory—II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer y Brown, 1996) with a sample of 470 Spanish community adults. Internal consistency estimate for the BDI-II was high (coefficient alpha of 0.89). Factor analyses suggested that the BDI-II measures a general dimension of depression consisting of two highly related factors, a cognitive-affective factor and a somatic-motivational one. In terms of both internal consistency and factorial validity, the BDI-II appears to be a stronger instrument to assess depressive symptomatology in community adults than its predecessor, the BDI-IA. Distribution of BDI-II scores was similar to that found in prior studies, yielding a mean that was 2 points higher than the one found with the BDI-IA. This difference supports the decision to increase cut-off scores to define categories of depression severity. In addition, age, sex, education level and civil status differences in the BDI scores were found: women scored higher than men, participants over 60 years old exceeded those who were younger, the group with the lowest education level scored higher than high-school or university education participants, and divorced, separated or widowed persons scored higher than married persons or persons cohabiting with a stable couple. BDI-II norm scores are provided for the complete community sample, and the usefulness of these scores for assessing clinical significance of therapy outcomes is discussed