Validation of an Arabic Version of the GHQ-28 against the Beck Depression Inventory for Screening for Depression in War-Exposed Civilians

Abstract

This study estimates the psychometric properties of the Arabic GHQ-28 against the BDI–II for screening for depression in war-exposed civilians. Two data sets collected in a civilian sample from South Lebanon were analyzed. Internal consistency in the two samples was high for the GHQ-28 (0.91 and 0.80) and the BDI–II (0.88 and 0.84). The BDI–II was significantly correlated with the GHQ-28 total score and the Depression subscale. The GHQ-28 yielded similar findings for depression cut-off scores compared to the BDI–II: for the GHQ-28 total score, a cut-off at 5/6 is recommended for detecting “severe/moderate” depression, and 8/9 for “severe” only, while from the Depression subscale analysis the recommendation was to use 8/9 as a cutoff for “severe/moderate” and 9/10 for “severe” depression. The Arabic GHQ-28 was found to be a valid instrument for screening for depression in the studied population.