Is the Beck Depression Inventory biased?

Stoppard (1989) contended that cognitive behavioral etiological explanations of depression were biased and utilized androcentric standards to determine an individual's vulnerability to depression. Stoppard's theory has been supported in part by scientists who have tested the gender role hypothesis of depression. This hypothesis proposes an overlap between social conceptualizations of depression and women. Research supporting this prediction has demonstrated a positive association between criteria for depressive disorders and prevailing feminine gender roles (e.g., Cook, 1990; Fisher, 1989; Landrine, 1988; Rothblum, 1983). The current project further investigated the gender role hypothesis of depression and Stoppard's (1989) criticism of Beck's cognitive theory of depression. Using a six-point Likert rating scale, a sample of 453 undergraduates evaluated items on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) in terms of how typical each item was of men and women. Responses were factor analyzed and assessed in relation to conceptualizations of women's gender roles and established criteria for depression. Exploratory factor analyses yielded a two-factor solution that accounted for 29 percent of the total variance among the BDI-II items. Based on the patterns in participants' responses, these two factors were labeled "Depression" and the "Absence of Depression." Further, the "Depression" factor was comprised of items more typical of women, while the "Absence of Depression" factor appeared to contain more items typical of men. Both of these factors were found to possess satisfactory internal reliability. Supplementary analyses suggested male and female participants did not differ in their ratings of the "Absence of Depression" factor. Both perceived this factor as typical of men. In contrast, males and females varied in their assessment of the "Depression" factor. Females rated the "Depression" factor higher than males, indicating that this factor was more typical of women. Multiple regression analyses also suggested that gender-related personality traits (e.g., instrumental & communal) and beliefs about discrimination against women differentially contributed to predicting responses to the "Depression" and the "Absence of Depression" factors. Theoretical, empirical, and clinical implications are offered for all of these results in the hopes of eliminating the overlap between social conceptualizations of depression and women, and enhancing the accurate identification, treatment, and investigation of depression.Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance ServicesThesis (Ph. D.