Citation

Palmer EJ, Binks C. Crim. Behav. Ment. Health 2008; 18(4): 232-242.

Affiliation

Clinical Division of Psychiatry, Department of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK. ejp8@le.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/cbm.701

PMID

18803294

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The Beck Depression Inventory - Second Edition (BDI-II) is a self-report measure of depression. Studies have shown it to have good psychometric properties with adult and adolescent clinical and non-clinical populations. However, this research has mostly been conducted with North American samples. AIMS/HYPOTHESES: To examine the psychometric characteristics of the BDI-II with male young adult offenders in the UK. METHODS: The BDI-II was administered to 117 incarcerated male young adult offenders aged 18-21 years from the UK. RESULTS: The BDI-II showed good internal consistency and concurrent validity. Factor analysis revealed two factors, relating to cognitive-affective items and somatic items. The items loading on the two factors were very similar to those found in a North American adolescent (13-17 years) psychiatric inpatient sample. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: The findings suggest that the BDI-II can be used with confidence in young adult male offenders. It would be useful to confirm its psychometric properties in other offender samples and establish offender population norms.

Language: en