Abstract
Selection of nondysphoric control subjects on the basis of low Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores has become a methodological issue in depression research. Therefore, we examined these questions: (1) Do current selection criteria result in a nondysphoric control group, a subsample of which is characterized by denial, psychopathic, or hypomanic tendencies? (2) Is there an identifiable subgroup of low scorers in which tendencies toward denial, psychopathy, or hypomania are particularly salient? Undergraduates completed the BDI and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). As predicted, the proportion of subjects who were elevated on MMPI validity scales was higher in the low-end sample than in dysphorics, and higher in very low scorers than in other low-end subjects. Low-end subjects did not score higher than other subjects on MMPI Psychopathic Deviate (MMPI-Pd) and MMPI Hypomania (MMPI-Ma) subscales. Suggestions for obviating problems associated with low-end specificity are offered.
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We are grateful to Steve Finn for comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.
Preparation of this article was supported, in part, by a University Fellowship to Thomas E. Joiner, Jr., from the University of Texas at Austin, and by a grant to Gerald I. Metalsky from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. Parts of this article were prepared while Thomas Joiner was on clinical psychology internship at O. E. Teague VA Medical Center, Temple, Texas. Gerald Metalsky is now at Department of Psychology, Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, 54912-0599.
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Joiner, T.E., Schmidt, K.L. & Metalsky, G.I. Low-end specificity of the Beck Depression Inventory. Cogn Ther Res 18, 55–68 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02359395
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02359395