Validity and Reliability of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) Bahasa Melayu Version: A Pilot Study on Public Servants Having Symptoms of Depression

This pilot study was conducted to test the reliability and validity of the instrument to be used to assess the level of depression among public servants in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The instrument used is the Beck Depression Inventory Bahasa Melayu Version. This instrument has two parts: Part A collects the demographic information and Part B has 21 items to measure depression. Although the basis of the existence of BDI is for use in clinical settings, there are many studies which have used BDI in non-clinical settings such as among university students and the general public. The BDI is empirically proven to be fit for use in both settings. A total of 30 public servants, who have been identified as a low performer at the Office of the State Secretary of Selangor, participated in this study. The Rasch Measurement Model using the Winsteps software version 3.72.3 was used to analyse the results. This Rasch analysis has shown that the reliability index of the Respondent obtained was 0.76 and the item reliability index was 0.83