Introduction: My name isChantiara Johnson and this course is helping me pursue my Master’s Degree inClinical Psychology specializing in Clinical Counseling. I am currently aCounselor Associate with Pine Grove Women’s Center, where I am using some ofthe knowledge obtain in class to help our patients. My career goal is to becomea Child and Adolescent Clinical Psychologistproviding help to improve the lives and minds of young adults who have lostfamily members or people in their lives who impacted them.
Having the opportunity to eventually work inmy own Clinical Practice will allow both children and adults to open up andexpress themselves however they feel. I want to be able to counsel my clientsto the point that they feel comfortable and vulnerable enough to expressthemselves to me about different things they are going through (Capella, 2016).My love for helping children with depression leads me to research standardizedtest on category 9 (depression). The three-standardized test are the Beck Depression Inventory-2 (Beck,Steer, & Brown, 1961), Beck Hopelessness Scale – Revised (Beck & Steer,1978), and the Children’s Depression Inventory-2 (Korvacs & MHS, 2011).
Element 1: Purpose,Content, Skills, and Test Taker The BeckDepression Inventory – II (the BDI- 2) (Beck et al., 1961) is a twenty- one item self-administered screening tool fordepression designed to assess the symptoms for major depressive episodes. In1996, revision to the BDI- 2 was made, in order the sync it with the DSM-IVcriteria for depression (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996). With this change,clients were now able to have a longer period to respond to the questionsasked, however, this test does not measure based on the response set. BDI- II measures on depressed moods thatcontinuously be studied through psychotherapy and antidepressant treatment(Beck et al.
, 1961).The BeckHopelessness Scale – Revised (BHS-R) (Beck & Steer, 1978) is a twenty- itemscale most commonly used for measuring an individual’s negative attitudes aboutthe future. The population that this test will work on, is for individuals 17and over. When Beck originally created this scale, he wanted to predict wouldor would not commit suicide. When looking at how everything is measured, theresearcher must look at the three aspects of hopelessness: feelings involvingthe future, lack of motivation, and what the individual’s expectations are(Beck & Steer, 1978). The Children’sDepression Inventory – 2 (CDI 2) (Korvacs, 2011) is usedby clinicians and counselors to help assess self-reported key symptoms ofdepression, such as a child’s feelings of worthlessness and loss of interest inactivities.
The CDI – 2 was designed for youth ages 7-17, to be able torespond to the different scales that have three choices per item. When lookingat each item, this scale focuses on the emotional and functional problems; while thesubscales observe the negative mood/physical symptoms, negative self-esteem,interpersonal problems, and ineffectiveness (Korvacs, 2011).Element 2: Appropriateness of Test, Content Skills Tested, and ContentCoverageAccording to Beck,Steer, & Brown (1961), The Beck Depression Inventory-II is to focus onsymptoms from DSM-IV, rather than those of BDI- I. The Beck DepressionInventory seems to be an appropriate test; however, it is always wise to use asecond test when using this one.
This is because BDI-II sometimes over-reporting and under-reporting of symptoms, which caninfluence the scores. This can then lead to a misdiagnosis of depressivesymptoms as either false positive or false negative cases (Serrano Bureno et.al, 2016). According to Serrano Bureno, within the study, it was noticeablethat between the two scales, the MMPI-2 Scale 2 is a more sensitive screeningtool than the BDI-II.
BDI- II can sometimes underestimate depressive symptoms,which is not anything new because it was created to o detect major depressivedisorders and not necessarily milder forms of depressed mood (Beck et al.,1996). When observing The Beck Hopelessness Scale – Revised,there is a possible objection to the use of the scale; it can produce a lot offalse positive data. Much similar to BDI-II, the Beck Hopelessness Scale maynot be appropriate for individuals from cultures outside of western culture. However,the BHS-R does try to identify the cases where there is a possibility of afatal suicide attempt without the actual behavior (Beck et al., 1990).
Theseindividuals, although, they may not have attempted suicide yet, they are stillbeing observed. If the individual, hopelessness is a very important predictor;this is because it may lead them into have future episodes. The Children’sDepression Inventory contents focus on assessing a child’s symptoms of depressionlike feelings of worthlessness and loss of interest (Clinical Psychology,2017). However, according to the article Depressionand its associated factors in pediatric chronic kidney disease (Kogon,2013) their use of CDI-2 may have introduced some misclassification ofdepression. In the pediatric CKD population, CDI-2 has not been validated,although, this population must deal with fatigue, insomnia, anorexia, andpsychomotor retardation often.
After doing the research, it was discovered thatthe difference in being depressed fromnon-depressed subjects were the responses to the item regarding suicidalideation. The evidence shows that depression plays an important role in thetrajectory of many things, including a persona health. Element 3: MaterialsProvided by Test Developers and Test Selection Accordingto Aaron Beck (1996), the BDI-II is designed to assess state-related depressionand could be used as a quick weekly screener prior to therapy sessions. Thistest can be given orally by an examiner; the test is user-friendly, it is easyto administer and score.
Since psychology is so diverse and open, it can be translatedinto languages other than English, including for individuals who are deaf. Whenlooking at The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS-II), it is good to know thatscoring is straightforward, each step adds to the next. This test has concurrentvalidity, because Beck wanted to know the relationship between the hopelessnessand the BHS scores (Beck & Steer, 1978).
