Normative Data on the Beck Depression Inventory--Second Edition (BDI-II) in College Students

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to provide normative data on the Beck Depression Inventory--Second Edition (BDI-II) in college students.

Method: Data were obtained from 15,233 college students drawn from 17 universities in the United States, weighted to match the gender and race/ethnicity of enrollment in degree-granting institutions.

Results: Descriptive statistics, point prevalence of individuals exceeding cutoff scores, and mean differences by gender and race/ethnicity were provided. Because the distribution of BDI-II scores was not normal, percentile ranks for raw scores were provided for the total sample and separately by gender and race/ethnicity for the total sample and by race/ethnicity for men and women. Normative data were used to calculate the Reliable Change Index on the BDI-II for college students.

Conclusion: Because the distribution of BDI-II scores demonstrated significant skewness and non-normal kurtosis, percentile ranks are important to consider in interpreting scores on the measure, in addition to descriptive statistics.

Keywords: BDI-II; Beck Depression Inventory - Second Edition; Reliable Change Index; normative data; norms.