Abstract of Project Funded for FY 1999


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Evaluating the Use of BDI-II with Deaf People

Irene Leigh, Psychology

Leigh, Robins, Welkowitz, and Bond (1989) revised the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), a popular measure of depression, to make it linguistically accessible for deaf and hard of hearing persons. This measure has been used to study depression in deaf people. Recently, the BDI was replaced with the BDI-II. The altered linguistic properties of the new BDI-II appear to enhance its appropriateness for use with deaf and hard of hearing persons without the need for revision. However, the BDI-II cannot be used with deaf persons without investigating its psychometric suitability for this population.