The present review discusses validity aspects of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) on the basis of meta-analyses of studies on the psychometric properties. Shortcomings of the BDI are its high item difficulty, lack of representative norms, and thus doubtful objectivity of interpretation, controversial factorial validity, instability of scores over short time intervals (over the course of 1 day), and poor discriminant validity against anxiety. Advantages of the inventory are its high internal consistency, high content validity, validity in differentiating between depressed and nondepressed subjects, sensitivity to change, and international propagation. The present paper outlines agreements and contradictions between the various studies on the BDI and discusses the potential factors (composition of the subject sample, statistical procedures, point in time of measurement) accounting for the variance in their results.

Background: Studies in the northern and southern hemispheres consistently identified seasonal influences on monthly and semester suicide distribution. The variations of sunlight exposure in zones of increasing latitude has been suggested as one of the most plausible explanations for this phenomenon. Some recent studies in the northern hemisphere could not find seasonal asymmetries of suicides. The current study examines the monthly, seasonal and semester distribution of suicidal deaths in Chile and the influence of seasons in zones of low latitude as compared with regions of high or very high latitude, trying to determine if a seasonal pattern still exists in a country of the southern hemisphere. Methods: Monthly, seasonal and semester suicidal data over the period 1995–1999 were examined for the whole sample and for gender-specific subgroups in Chile. Four different latitudinal zones were analyzed separately, in order to investigate the effect of the photoperiod on suicide distribution. Results were analyzed by χ² tests for multinomials, as an overall measure of deviation. Results: We found a significant unimodal springtime peak for both genders in the global territory. Among the 4,710 male and 829 female suicides reported in this period there were no gender differences in the seasonal pattern of suicidal deaths. When divided into four different latitudinal zones, the regions with low latitude (north of the country) showed no significant differences, while central and southern zones (higher latitude) show a significant springtime pattern. In the extreme south of the country, no significant differences were found, probably due to the very small number of cases. Conclusion: The study confirms the existence of a unimodal springtime peak of suicides in Chile, but not in the zone of low latitude. Results support the notion that the seasonal impact on suicidal distribution is a function of photoperiod.

Personality traits and disorders have a strong influence on the course and outcome of depressive and bipolar disorders. Studies of the influence of personality disorders (PD) and some PD clusters on outcome of mood disorders are controversial and suggest that more specific assessment of underlying traits or dimensions is needed. Utilizing the Munich Personality test (MP-T) scales of von Zerssen, this study tries to identify specific personality traits that may influence the outcome and clinical course of unipolar endogenous depression and bipolar disorder. Six unipolar depressives and 6 bipolar patients, according to DSM III-R and ICD 10 criteria, were assessed with the MP-T self- and family-reporting scales. Three years later, their outcome scores were correlated with the corresponding premorbid personality profile. Preliminary results show that introversion has a negative effect on outcome of unipolar melancholic depression, while extraversion, esoteric tendencies and rigidity have a positive influence. Neuroticism has a negative influence on outcome of bipolar disorder, but not on unipolar endogenous depression. Data from the literature suggest that neuroticism, hostility and social dysfunction seem to have a negative prognostic value only for nonendogenous depressives and bipolar disorder, thus supporting the notion that the diagnostic distinction between bipolar disorder, endogenous and nonendogenous depression is relevant to prognostic discussions. These observations help to understand the differences between depressive syndromes and their relationship to prognosis, but also to comprehend the role of personality in clinical and theoretical research of mood disorders.

The construct validity of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in measuring treatment outcome is assessed in 103 psychiatric inpatients. In this context, construct validity means that the BDI measures the same construct in repeated measurement and that the change scores can be explained by treatment effects. In confirmatory factor analyses, only the first factor proved to be stable. In accordance with other studies, the sensitivity to therapeutic change in long-term intervals of several weeks could be confirmed. Significant changes in a short-term interval of 1 day in the non-endogenously depressed patients indicate an overreactivity of the BDI to change which cannot be explained by treatment effects or mood changes.

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