The Beck Depression Inventory: A Cross-Validated Test of Second-Order Factorial Structure for Bulgarian Adolescents

Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to test for the validity of a higher order factorial structure of a Bulgarian version of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) for non clinical adolescents. In a cross validation of three independent samples (n1 = 227; n2 = 172; n3 = 292), and based on the analysis of covariance structures within the framework of a confirmatory factor analytic model, findings yielded exceptionally strong support for the hypothesized second-order three-factor structure. These findings add to a growing cross-cultural agglomerate of construct validity data related to the factorial structure of the BDI. Results are expected to be of substantial interest to both researchers and clinicians whose concerns focus on depression as it bears on this population.