Psychometric properties of the BDI-II bifactorial model on mexican general population and university students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to test the Spanish version (Sanz, Navarro, & Vazquez, 2003) of the Beck Depression Inventory–II ([BDI-II]; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) in the Mexican general population and undergraduate university students on non clinical samples. The reliability and construct validity obtained in a sample of 474 university students and 478 people from the general population, confirmed good psychometric properties: Cronbach alpha of 0.901 and Confirmatory factor analysis, showed good adjustment indices to two-factor model scale. These results agree with those reported in previous studies both international and Spanish studies on the psychometric properties of the instrument (Sanz, Navarro, & Vázquez, 2003; Sanz, Perdigón & Vázquez, 2003). Confirmatory factor analysis showed a good fit of the Mexican population data, the two-factor model reported in the Spanish population. Finally, the distributions of scores were similar to those found in Spanish studies. There were significant differences in scores by gender, but there are no significant effects of age. It is concluded that the Spanish version of the BDI-II may be a valid and reliable instrument to assess depressive symptoms in college students and the general population of Mexican adults.