J Psychopathol Behav Assess (2007) 29:191–202 DOI 10.1007/s10862-006-9038-5 ORIGINAL PAPER The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS): Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure Jonathan W. Kanter · Patrick S. Mulick · Andrew M. Busch · Kristoffer S. Berlin · Christopher R. Martell Published online: 25 October 2006 C  Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2006 Abstract In Behavioral Activation (BA) for depression (Martell, C. R., Addis, M. E., & Jacobson, N. S. (2001)), which has recently received empirical support in a large ran- domized trial, therapists pay close attention to the function of behavior and the role of aversive controlling stimuli and escape and avoidance behavior in depression. A key vari- able to measure in studies of BA is when and how clients become more activated over the course of treatment. This study sought to develop an initial set of items for the Behav- ioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS), submit these items to an exploratory factor analysis in an initial adminis- tration (Study 1, N = 391), and submit the resulting scale to a confirmatory factor analysis in a second administration (Study 2, N = 319). Results indicated four factors (Ac- tivation, Avoidance/Rumination, Work/School Impairment, and Social Impairment) with good factor structure, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Evidence for construct and predictive validity is presented. Keywords Behavioral activation . Depression . Scale development . Psychotherapy . Measurement Interest in behavioral approaches to depression treatment has waxed and waned over the years. Lewinsohn (1974) first J. W. Kanter () · A. M. Busch · K. S. Berlin Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, PO Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201, USA e-mail: jkanter@uwm.edu P. S. Mulick Department of Psychology, Gonzaga University, WA, USA C. R. Martell Department of Psychology, University of Washington, WA, USA described depression as characterized primarily by losses of, reductions in, or chronically low levels of response- contingent positive reinforcement (RCPR). His related treatment strategies included pleasant events scheduling to increase rates of RCPR and social skills training to increase the client’s ability to obtain and maintain RCPR (Zeiss, Lewinsohn, & Mu˜ noz, 1979). These early behavioral strate- gies became components of Cognitive Therapy (CT) for depression (Beck, Rush, Shaw, & Emery, 1979), which es- sentially eclipsed purely behavioral approaches as empirical support for CT grew over the last three decades. However, interest in behavioral activation (BA) was revived with a component analysis that suggested that the BA component of CT alone produced equivalent outcomes to the full CT package at the end of acute treatment (Jacobson et al., 1996) and at a 2-year follow-up (Gortner, Gollan, Dobson, & Jacobson, 1998). This sparked the development of a full BA treatment package (Jacobson, Martell, & Dimidjian, 2001; Martell, Addis, & Jacobson, 2001) based on the work of Ferster (1973) and the philosophy of functional contex- tualism (Hayes, Hayes, Reese, & Sarbin, 1993), which has its underpinnings in behavior analysis. Simultaneously an alternate abbreviated BA package was developed by Lejuez, Hopko, and Hopko (2002), referred to as Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD). The recent conceptualization of BA (Martell et al., 2001) uses many of the same treatment techniques as its earlier manifestations but important differences exist (Kanter, Callaghan, Landes, Busch, & Brown, 2004). In particular, therapists now pay close attention to the function of behavior and the role of aversive controlling stimuli and escape and avoidance behavior in depression. BA therapists use functional analytic strategies to assess for avoidance behaviors that are conceptualized as producing low rates of RCPR. These avoidance behaviors are targeted for Springer