Evidence that depression rating scales primarily measure a social undesirability response set

Langevin, Ron; Hc, Stancer

doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1979.tb06948.x

Cited by 19 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It may be tempting to reduce our results to the differences in means among the BDI subgroups reported in Table I, and to equate our findings with extant results. Previously, Beck (1972), Tanaka-Matsumi and Kameoka (1986), and Langevin and Stancer (1979) reported a negative association between the BDI and social desirability. The present study extends these findings by localizing social desirability and denial within an identifiable subgroup, most of whom were extremely low scorers on the BDI, as was suggested by Kendall et al (1987).…”

Section: $-mentioning

confidence: 96%

Low-end specificity of the Beck Depression Inventory

1994

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: $-mentioning

confidence: 96%

Low-end specificity of the Beck Depression Inventory

1994

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Langevin and Stancer [22] hypothesized that, because the low self-esteem of depressed patients implies attributing socially undesirable qualities to the self, depression scales might in fact mainly measure social undesirability. In a small study correlations of the Edwards Social Desirability Scale with the Beck Depression Inventory, Carroll Self-Rating Depression Scale, and MMPI Depression Scale were between 0.8 and 0.9.…”

Section: Sources Of Discrepancymentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Report and Clinical Interview in the Assessment of Depression

Paykel¹,

Norton²

1986

Assessment of Depression

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This chapter will compare clinical interview and self-report methods of assessment of depressed patients. The two methods overlap to some extent, but each has particular advantages and disadvantages.Spitzer and Endicott [43] have enumerated five major modes of psychiatric rating: (1) The patient may fill out a self-report questionnaire; (2) a relative or other informant may fill out a questionnaire reporting on the patient; (3) a professional, most commonly a nurse, may observe the patient in a naturalistic setting, such as a hospital ward; (4) a professional may interview an informant; and (5) a professional may interview the patient and rate both what the patient tells him and what he has observed.The major division is between the first method, the self-report questionnaire, and the remaining methods, which depend on an outside observer: a relative, nurse, or psychiatrist at interview. Most studies in depression have, in fact, contrasted the self-report method with the interview, incorporating verbal material and observed behaviour, the usual method of the psychiatrist-administered rating scale. Sources of DiscrepancyThere are easily identifiable sources of potential discrepancy both in self-report and in interview scales. First some aspects of psychopathology cannot readily be assessed by the self, since they are mainly apparent to others. These include purely observational elements such as appearance of depression and psychomotor retardation. The extent to which this gap in assessment actually matters will depend on the extent to which the observational elements behave differently to subjective feelings. In addition, self-report scales cannot tap fully those aspects, such as delusions, hallucinations, and hypochondriacal overconcern, into which the patient does not have insight. Carefully framed questions can elicit some aspects of the phenomena, without clearly distinguishing the reality-based from the delusional.A possibility which has tended to be neglected is the presence in self-report symptom questionnaires of pencil-and-paper answering habits or response sets which may distort answers. One such set is acquiescence or yea-saying [10] -the tendency to respond affirmatively to all questions, irrespective of content. Another response set, social desirability [16], involves the tendency to select a socially acceptable response rather than the true one. N. Sartorius et al. (eds.), Assessment of Depression

show abstract

“…The score on the BDI represents a measure for depression (26) and low self-esteem (27). Taylor and Falconer (14) found a trend for right-sided temporal lobe surgery to be more frequent in their patient group with neurosis and depression, and Naylor et al (21) reported a higher frequency of right-sided surgery in patients with postoperative depression.…”

Section: Anatomical Considerationsmentioning

confidence: 98%