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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology pp 1–5Cite as

Beck Depression Inventory

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Synonyms

BDI; BDI-II

Description

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI; Beck et al. 1961) is one of the most widely used self-report measures to assess depressive symptom severity in adolescents and adults. It was amended in 1979 to allow for simpler administration and scoring (BDI-IA; Beck et al. 1979). In 1996, a more substantial revision was made so it would correspond to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association 1994) criteria for clinical depression (BDI-II; Beck et al. 1996b).

The BDI-II is a self-report measure comprised of 21 items reflecting specific cognitive, affective, and physical symptoms of depression. Scores range from 0 to 3, with higher numbers indicating greater symptom severity. If more than one statement from a given item is chosen by the patient, the statement of greatest severity is scored. The maximum total score is 63.

The BDI-II takes approximately 5–10 min to complete and can be...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kennedy Krieger Institute/Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Joyce Suh & Jennifer Linton Reesman

Authors
  1. Joyce Suh
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  2. Jennifer Linton Reesman
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Correspondence to Joyce Suh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Richmond, Virgin Islands, USA

    Jeffrey Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation , West Orange, New Jersey, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Suite 200 , Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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Suh, J., Reesman, J.L. (2017). Beck Depression Inventory. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1973-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_1973-3

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2

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