What does the Beck Depression Inventory measure in college students? Evidence from a non-western culture

This investigation of the factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was designed to assess Gotlib's (1984) claim that the BDI is more a measure of general psychopathology than a specific measure of depression when administered to student samples. The data were collected from Iranian students and provide further information about the performance of the BDI in a non-Western culture. Principal components analysis of the responses to items 1-20 of the BDI (N = 405) revealed five factors with different degrees of similarity to findings of Hill, Kemp-Wheeler, and Jones (1986). Within subsamples, the factor scores were predicted in multiple regression analysis from Eysenck Personality Inventory subscales (N, P, E, L), James' I-E scale, and two measures of self-esteem. Results indicated that the five factors had distinctly different relationships to the other personality scales. The most general factor seemed to be a measure of helplessness and self-devaluation. These results confirm the usefulness of the BDI as a measure of depression in college student populations, even in non-Western cultures.