THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE INVENTORY TO DIAGNOSE DEPRESSION IN ALCOHOL-DEPENDENT MEN AND WOMEN DAVID C. HODGINS* MARIE DUFOUR University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada SUSAN ARMSTRONG Foothills Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada ABSTRACT: Purpose: This study examined the reliability and validity of the Inventory to Diagnose Depression (IDD) in alcohol-dependent men and women. The IDD is a self-report instrument that provides a continuous score reflecting depression severity and a DSM-IV major depression diagnosis (MDD). Methods: Participants (N = 57) were administered the IDD, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the mood module of the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM (SCID). Results: Internal reliability and item-total correlations were generally good and the IDD severity score correlated highly with the BDI. The diagnostic performance of the IDD using the DSM-IV scoring algorithm was good overall but excellent for currently abstinent participants and fair for participants who had recently consumed alcohol. The IDD cut-off score for identifying cases of depression appears stringent compared to the BDI and SCID. Implications: The present investigation provides some support for the use of the IDD with abstinent alcoholic outpatient samples when a self-report diagnostic instrument is desirable. For a current drinker, a positive IDD does not distinguish between an alcohol- induced depression and MDD. *Direct all correspondence to: Dr. David C. Hodgins, Addiction Centre, Foothills Medical Centre, 1403 29 Street NW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 2T9; E-mail: dhodgins@ucalgary.ca JOURNAL OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE, Volume 11, Number 4, pages 369±378. Copyright # 2000 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISSN: 0899-3289