Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Beck Depression inventory on Brazilian college students

The psychometric properties of the Portuguese Version of the Beck Depressio n Inventory were studied on a large Brazilian college student sample (N= 1, 080: 845 women. 235 men). The BDI scores according to sociodemographic char acteristics and mean individual item scores for total sample and by gender were compared. BDI scores tend to be higher for women, for those who work, and for the younger participants. The reliability of the inventory estimate d by alpha coefficient was high for the total sample (.86) and subgroups. F actor analysis showed three factors for the total sample (low self-esteem c ognitive-affective and somatic) and two for each gender. Women combined aff ective and low self-esteem whereas men combined somatic and low self-esteem in the same dimension. Discriminant analysis showed that BDI highly discri minates depressive symptomatology in college students and measures specific aspects of depression. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.