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Confirmatory factor analysis of the short form Beck Depression Inventory in elderly community samples
Author(s) -
Foelker George A.,
Shewchuk Richard M.,
Niederehe George
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/1097-4679(198701)43:1<111::aid-jclp2270430118>3.0.co;2-s
Subject(s) - confirmatory factor analysis , psychology , beck depression inventory , depression (economics) , validation test , clinical psychology , psychometrics , test validity , psychiatry , structural equation modeling , statistics , anxiety , mathematics , economics , macroeconomics
The factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory short form (BDI‐SF) was investigated in two elderly samples, with the method of confirmatory factor analysis. Four models previously reported for the BDI‐SF in the general adult population were compared for goodness of fit to the data for elderly respondents, and the best‐fitting model was adjusted further for these data. Each step in the analyses of the BDI‐SF responses of 199 elderly subjects from Tampa, Florida, was cross‐validated with data from a second sample of 113 elderly subjects from Houston, Texas. The results confirmed that the three‐factor model reported by Reynolds and Gould (1981) adequately fit the data from both elderly samples. The three identified factors were termed Negative Self‐Esteem, Anergy, and Dysphoria and were considered to correspond with the cognitive, behavioral, and affective components that generally are thought to be part of the depressive syndrome. The internal consistency of the overall BDI‐SF was. 74 and 80 in the Tampa and Houston samples, respectively. These findings provide evidence for the construct validity of the BDI‐SF by confirming that it displays a factor structure in the aged similar to that observed in the general adult population.