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Alero Okundia Discussion Week 2COLLAPSE Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a psychological measure that is utilized to assess depression among clients over the age of 12

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Alero Okundia Discussion Week 2COLLAPSE

Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is a psychological measure that is utilized to assess depression among clients over the age of 12. The tool is in the form of a questionnaire comprises of 21 questions. the BDI was developed in 1961. It has been revised several times, with the most recent version, BDI-II published in 1996, it is a self-reporting inventory (Smarr, 2019). Therefore, the answers to the 21 questions are provided by the client rather than being observed by the provider.

The development of BDI was established on the concept that an individual’s cognition leads to depression. According to this model, intrusive cognition can sustain a state of depression. For instance, a student who has negative thoughts about her appearance may end up depressed over issues such as weight, height, and appearance.

The BDI comprises 21, each representing various items (Smarr, 2019). These items are grouped into two major components. First is the somatic or physical component, which refers to physicals factors that depict the state of depression; examples include lack of appetite, tiredness and fatigue and changes in sleeping patterns (Smarr, 2019). Secondly the affective component. These refer to emotional aspects that describe the presence of a depression state. The affective components include pessimism, feelings of guilt, self-loathing and indecisiveness. These items are rated on a scale of 0 to 3 (Reis, et al., 2019). An item that represents a severe case of depression is given a score of 3 while cases that depict minimal evidence of depression are provided a score of 0.

Mental health providers and researchers mainly use BDI. The instrument is mainly useful in the clinical setting. Professional therapists utilize the BDI as a measurement for diagnosing depression (Smarr, 2019). BDI is also popular in the research field and widely used by scientists who study depression.

The device is also used in academia and workplaces to evaluate employees and students. In these settings, the BDI is administered by counselors and other paraprofessionals in the medical field to diagnose depression (Reis et al, 2019). The BDI measure is easily administered; however, a qualified provider is needed to interpret the outcome of the test, especially in items concerning self-harm and helplessness. Clients who are diagnosed with depression will be referred to a licensed mental health provider for treatment and therapy.

According to (Reis, et al. 2019), BDI has excellent psychometric properties as it has demonstrated high internal consistency, high validity, excellent construct, and test-retest reliability. However, the BDI system has limitations. The possibility of getting exaggerated results is one of the limitations that are associated with the BDI tool. Since the BDI measure is a self-inventory, there is a possibility of the client being evaluated, will give inaccurate information.

The second limitation the measures use physical signs that are present in other illnesses (Reis, et al. 2019). Example disrupted pattern of sleep, fatigue and loss of appetite can be ambiguous, these symptoms are present in other numerous diseases. This depression inventory can be self-scored. The scoring scale is at the end of the questionnaire.