An Empirical Investigation of Depression Symptoms: Norms, Psychometric Characteristics and Factor Structure of the Beck Depression Inventory-II

Abstract

The present study provides normative data and investigated the psychometric characteristics and factor structure of a Norwegian version of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) in a general population sample (N=875) and a student sample (N=303). High internal consistency of the BDI-II was found in both samples, and sufficient test-retest reliability over a three week period was obtained in the student sample. Results from the student sample further established evidence for convergent and discriminative validity, but only preliminary indications of the construct validity of the BDI-II were obtained. Confirmational factor analyses were carried out with both samples respectively. Taking into account model parsimony, a three-factor model was retained for post-hoc analyses. A modified three-factor model achieved satisfactory fit across subgroups of the general population sample and the student sample. Sample characteristics and methodological limitations are discussed, validation of the Norwegian version of the BDI-II and contribution to research on the BDI-II in general summarized, and issues for further validation and research recommended.