Beck Depression Inventory: Establishing the Reliability and Validity of the Kurdish Version Among Earthquake Survivors of Kermanshah, Iran

Because of the dramatic rise in mental disorders after Kermanshah earthquake among earthquake survivors of all age groups, paying attention to the mental health of survivors and identifying their mental disorders such as depression are highly essential. Thus, there is a need for valid screening measures for the common mental conditions among the earthquake survivors. This study aimed to validate the Kurdish version of Beck depression inventory (BDI) among the earthquake survivors of Kermanshah. First, the Kurdish version of BDI was prepared using the forward-backward method. Then, the prepared BDI questionnaire was distributed among 138 earthquake survivors selected through the stratified random sampling method in Javanrud and Salas cities of Iran. The reliability and internal consistency of the Kurdish version of BDI were evaluated using the test-retest correlation coefficient and infraclass correlation coefficient. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 18. The Kurdish version of BDI had desirable internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.66 to 0.89), test–retest reliability (r = 0.86), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.66) and discriminant validity among earthquake survivors with depression symptoms as the clinical samples and the control group (mean BDI = 14.43 vs. 7.76; P 0.001). This study indicated that the Kurdish version of the BDI-21 is a valid, reliable and appropriate instrument to be used as a depression screening measure among the Kurdish population of Kermanshah.