VALIDATION OF A PORTUGUESE VERSION OF THE BECK DEPRESSION INVENTORY AND THE STATE-TRAIT ANXIETY INVENTORY IN BRAZILIAN SUBJECTS

We have validated a Portuguese version of the Beck Depression Inventor y (BDI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) tests by obtaining pr ofiles for three Brazilian samples: 270 university students, 117 panic patients and 30 depressed patients. The mean BDI scores were higher f or depressed patients (25.2 +/- 12.6), intermediate for anxious patien ts (15.8 +/- 10.3) and lower for students (8.5 +/- 7.0). Mean STAI sco res for anxious (52.8 +/- 11.4) and depressed patients (56.4 +/- 10.5) were higher than for the student sample (40.7 +/- 8.6). BDI and STAI scores were correlated significantly in all samples. The internal cons istency of the Portuguese version of BDI is in agreement with the lite rature (0.81 for students and 0.88 for depressed patients). The presen t data demonstrate that the psychometric properties of the Portuguese versions of the BDI and STAI are comparable to the original English la nguage versions of these questionnaires, thereby indicating their use in clinical situations.