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The Latent Symptom Structure of the Beck Depression Inventory: Second Edition in Latina Pregnant Women

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Abstract

Pregnancy represents a unique period of time when women are at an increased risk of developing depression. Although the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II) is one of the most widely used self-report measures of depression symptomology, its psychometric properties and underlying factor structures have not been determined for antenatal women and among Latinas. The current study evaluated the latent symptom structure of the BDI-II in a community-based sample of Latina pregnant women (N = 217) identified to be at high risk for depression. Exploratory factor analyses were used to identify underlying salient individual item loadings for two- and three-factor models. Confirmatory factor analyses then examined several different indices to determine the best model fit. Examination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supports a three-factor oblique structure of the BDI-II composed of Cognitive–Affective, Somatic, and Pregnancy Symptoms. The three-factor model provides clinicians with the ability to target specific constellations of depressive symptoms instead of relying on the BDI-II total score that represents the overall severity of depression in this population.

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Notes

  1. Tandon et al. [10] used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders, (SCID; [43]) to obtain diagnoses of major and minor depression. Minor depression refers to a person who endorses at least 2, but less than 5, of the symptoms similar to a diagnosis of major depression (e.g., depressed mood, anhedonia, sleep changes, weight/appetite changes) for at least 2 weeks. One of the symptoms endorsed must be either depressed mood or anhedonia (loss of interest or pleasure in activities that are normally enjoyed).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, George Washington University, 2125 G St., NW, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Lisa A. Alexander & Huynh-Nhu Le

  2. Department of Personality, Assessment, and Psychological Treatment, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Madrid, Spain

    Maria de la Fey Rodríguez Muñoz

  3. Center for Child and Human Development, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA

    Deborah F. Perry

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  1. Lisa A. Alexander
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  3. Deborah F. Perry
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  4. Huynh-Nhu Le
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Correspondence to Lisa A. Alexander.

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Alexander, L.A., de la Fey Rodríguez Muñoz, M., Perry, D.F. et al. The Latent Symptom Structure of the Beck Depression Inventory: Second Edition in Latina Pregnant Women. Matern Child Health J 18, 1132–1141 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1343-5

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