Examining the high-end specificity of the Beck Depression Inventory using an anxiety sample

Although the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) is one of the most widely used measures of depression, there is some concern whether high scores on the BDI represent the nosologic category of depression or psychological distress more generally. In this study the high-end specificity of the BDI was examined using a clinical sample of anxiety-disordered individuals, a group characterized by high negative affect. Results revealed using a high BDI cut score produced moderate specificity and sensitivity rates. Additional analyses indicated an overall fair performance of the BDI in classifying depression in the anxiety sample and an optimal cut score for differentiating anxiety clients with and without comorbid depression was identified. However, using the optimal cut score resulted in nearly one third of the sample being incorrectly classified on the basis on their BDI scores. The findings underscore the importance of not relying solely on BDI scores to classify depression samples, which is a current common practice in psychological research.