The Chinese version of Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II-C) is one of the most used instruments to measure the severity of depression in Taiwan. The scarce literature regarding its psychometric properties (e.g., measurement invariance) highlighted the need and significance for such an investigation. The purpose of this study was to examine the gender-related measurement invariance of the BDI-II-C in an adolescent sample facing an entrance examination in the following two ways: (a) examining configural, metric, and scalar invariance using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses and (b) estimating the effects of any detected noninvariance on mean differences. The participants included 827 (416 boys and 411 girls) Taiwanese adolescents. Results indicate that measurement invariance was established at the level of configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance. Seven noninvariant intercepts (Items 2, 3, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 19) were identified, showing that there was differential additive response style bias for the BDI-II-C across gender groups. Additionally, the results demonstrated that the noninvariance had significant effects on interpretation based on gender latent mean difference as well as observed mean difference.

This study examined measurement invariance (i.e., configural invariance, metric invariance, scalar invariance) of the Chinese version of Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II-C) across college males and females and compared gender differences on depression at the latent factor mean level. Two samples composed of 402 male college students and 595 female college students were analyzed. Results found the evidences of partial scalar invariance of the BDI-II-C with five noninvariant items (i.e., Items 2, 3, 4, 7, and 10), providing empirical evidences of construct validity of the BDI-II-C for the purpose of making gender latent mean comparisons. Additionally, the findings revealed significant latent mean differences favoring females on the Negative Attitude factor but not on the Performance Difficulty and Somatic Element factors. These results were discussed in light of the benefits of using latent mean analyses associated with specific factors when comparing gender differences on depression.

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Differential item functioning (DIF), Mean and covariance structure analysis (MACS), Chinese version of Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II-C), Depression,

Estimates of treatment efficacy based on observed test scores appear to be confounded by response shifts.

The primary purpose of this study was to utilize a multidimensional perspective to examine whether children’s self-concept served as a mediator between academic achievement and depression, and to further investigate whether this mediation effect was moderated by the ages of children. The participants consisted of 632 Taiwanese children in the grades 3 to 6. In the mediation analyses, results found that self-concept, representing a multifaceted and hierarchical structure, was intermediate in the relationship between academic achievement and depression. In further moderated mediation analyses, results indicated that the mediation effect of academic achievement on depression was moderated by the ages or children, with a higher effect for younger children (grades 3–4) than older children (grades 5–6). Finally, this study discussed several empirical and methodological implications of the findings.

This study was to apply the mixed Rasch model to investigate person heterogeneity of Beck Depression Inventory-II-Chinese version (BDI-II-C) and its effects on dimensionality and construct validity. Person heterogeneity was reflected by two latent classes that differ qualitatively. Additionally, person heterogeneity adversely affected the dimensionality of the BDI-II-C but did not compromise construct validity. KeywordsBeck Depression Inventory II, depression, mixture item response model, person heterogeneity Examining depression has attracted much attention for a long time in psychological research, especially in the fields of psychopathology and clinical and healthy psychology. The numerous depression studies rely on self-report depression scales to measure depression or depressive symptoms. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) is an upgraded version of the BDI, which is one of most frequently used self-rating measures of depression (Snaith, 1993). The BDI-II is scored by summing the ratings of 21 items associated with cognitive, affective, and somatic symptoms. Each item is rated by a polytomous response format (i.e., 4-point scale) ranging from 0 to 3, and the diagnostic results are categorized into four levels of the intensity of depression based on the total scores. Such a scoring mechanism requires at least two assumptions, one of which is that the order-response categories are used homogeneously across items and persons. The other is that all items represent a common underlying construct (i.e., items should be unidimensional). The two assumptions are not independent but rather related, in that violating the first assumption (i.e., person homogeneity) will adversely influence the second (i.e., unidimensionality). Only when these assumptions are upheld can the total scores be meaningfully interpreted.Unfortunately, there is no study concerning the first assumption for the BDI-II. However, in terms of the second assumption, previous studies have demonstrated different results,