A Psychometric Comparison of the Beck Depression Inventory and the Inventory for Diagnosing Depression in a College Population

Abstract

The relationship between the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Inventory for Diagnosing Depression (IDD) was evaluated in a college population. The BDI is an established self-report depression instrument. The IDD is a relatively new self-report depression instrument. The IDD was designed to address the BDI's lack of full correspondence with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev.) (DSM-III) through DSM-IV criteria. The two instruments were found to be highly correlated and Cronbach's alpha was found to be high for each instrument. The diagnostic performance of three BDI cutoff scores was found to vary considerably when compared to IDD diagnostic criteria. Implications for selection and use of self-report depression inventories are discussed.