Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition ( BDI-II )

1. Due to the face validity of the BDI-II, underreporting and overreporting may be likely. 2. Individuals with low education and some Spanish speakers have difficulty with the response format. 3. The procedure used to determine the cut scores may increase the likelihood of false positives or overdiagnoses of depression among clients. 4. The wording in some items asks the respondent to compare their current state to a prior one (e.g., than usual, as ever). Individuals with chronic trauma since childhood sometimes respond by circling a zero because they do not feel worse than "usual." 5. The normative sample is predominantly White (91%). 6. Although the measure can be used for adolescents, the norms were gathered with adults. 7. The majority of psychometric studies conducted with adolescents in the United States have involved predominantly Caucasian samples and have not included large numbers of individuals of lower socio-economic status. More research is needed on the use of the BDI-II with diverse groups of adolescents.