Relationships between the Beck Depression Inventory and the Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression in depressed outpatients

  • Robert A. Steer
  • Aaron T. Beck
  • John H. Riskind
  • Gary Brown
Article
Accepted:

Abstract

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) were used with 300 outpatients diagnosed with DSM-III major depression disorders. A principal-components analysis was performed on the intercorrelations among the 21 BDI and 24 HRSD symptoms. Three orthogonal components were found and interpreted as reflecting differences in self-report and clinical rating methods for measuring the severity of depression. The importance of using both self-reports and clinical ratings for evaluating depression in psychiatric outpatients was discussed.

Key words

Depression measurement Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) Hamilton Psychiatric Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) 
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Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1987

Authors and Affiliations

  • Robert A. Steer
    • 1
  • Aaron T. Beck
    • 2
  • John H. Riskind
    • 2
  • Gary Brown
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, School of Osteopathic MedicineCamden
  2. 2.Center for Cognitive TherapyUniversity of Pennsylvania Medical SchoolPhiladelphia

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