Multimethod validation of the Beck Depression Inventory-II and Grossman-Cole Depression Inventory with an inpatient sample.

Psychometric examination of the Beck Depression Inventory-II has been adequate and varied for outpatient and nonclinical samples, but is still comparatively scant for inpatient psychiatric samples. In particular, important factor analytic questions have not been assessed on inpatient samples at all. Given that over time alone (regardless of symptom change) test scores on depression measures can spuriously drop, a convergent psychometric analysis of the Beck Depression Inventory-II was undertaken with a new measure of depression severity, the Grossman-Cole Depression Inventory. A sample of 101 psychiatric inpatients was administered both tests. Item and scale level psychometrics were reviewed for each measure. Results were highly consistent with previous findings, providing support for the use of the Beck Depression Inventory-II with inpatient samples. Moreover, the new inventory performed quite well, suggesting it has promise as another measure for self-reported depression symptom severity. The Beck Depression Inventory-II appears appropriately considered as a single-factor hierarchical measure of depression with the current inpatient sample. Moreover, the Grossman-Cole Depression Inventory is related enough to the Beck inventory to provide adequate similarity without being so similar the measures duplicate each other.