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Beck Depression Inventory

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Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology

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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. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Jeffrey S. Kreutzer

  2. Kessler Foundation, Pleasant Valley Way, West Orange, NJ, USA

    John DeLuca

  3. Independent Practice, Wynnewood, PA, USA

    Bruce Caplan

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Suh, J., Reesman, J.L. (2018). Beck Depression Inventory. In: Kreutzer, J.S., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57111-9_1973

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