Table of Contents
Background:
The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS) can be used to track changes weekly in the behaviors hypothesized to underlie depression and specifically targeted for change by behavioral activation. It examines changes in the following areas: activation, avoidance/rumination, work/school impairment, and social impairment. The BADS consists of 25 questions, each rated on a seven-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 6 (completely). The short-form BADS consists of 9 items rated using the same scale as the long-form.
Psychometrics:
Data on the scale’s internal consistency, construct and predictive validity, and factor structure have been presented (Kanter et al., 2007; Kanter et al., 2009). Positive findings on the psychometric properties of the short-form BADs have also been presented (Manos et al., 2011)
Author of Tool:
Kanter, J. W., Mulick, P. S., Busch, A. M., Berlin, K. S., & Martell, C. R.
Key references:
Kanter, J. W., Mulick, P. S., Busch, A. M., Berlin, K. S., & Martell, C. R. (2007). The Behavioral activation for depression scale (BADS): Psychometric properties and factor structure. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 29, 191-202.
Kanter, J. W., Rusch, L. C., Busch, A. M., & Sedivy, S. K. (2009). Validation of the behavioral activation for depression scale (BADS) in a community sample with elevated depressive symptoms. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 31, 36-42.
Manos, R. C., Kanter, J. W., & Luo, W. (2011). The behavioral activation scale for depression-short form: Development and validation. Behavior Therapy, 42, 726-739.
Primary use / Purpose:
The questionnaire is designed to measure changes in avoidance and activation over the course of Behavioral Activation for depression.
Other Information:
To score the BADS, items from all scales other than the Activation scale are reverse-coded and then
all items are summed. To score the subscales, no items are reverse-coded. This process allows high scores on the total scale and the subscales to be represented by the scale and subscale names. In other words, for the total scale, higher scores represent increased activation, while for the Social Impairment subscale, higher scores represent increased social impairment.
Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale
Please read each statement carefully and then circle the number which best describes how much the statement was true for you DURING THE PAST WEEK, INCLUDING TODAY.
| 0 = Not at all 1
2 = A little 3 4 = A lot 5 6 = Completely |
For Scoring Purposes only | ||||
|
A C |
A R |
W S |
S I |
T |
|
| 1. I stayed in bed for too long even though I had things to do. | _ | R | |||
| 2. There were certain things I needed to do that I didn’t do. | _ | R | |||
| 3. I am content with the amount and types of things I did. | _ | _ | |||
| 4. I engaged in a wide and diverse array of activities. | _ | _ | |||
| 5. I made good decisions about what type of activities and/or situations I put myself in. | _ | _ | |||
| 6. I was active, but did not accomplish any of my goals for the day. | _ | R | |||
| 7. I was an active person and accomplished the goals I set out to do. | _ | _ | |||
| 8. Most of what I did was to escape from or avoid something unpleasant. | _ | R | |||
| 9. I did things to avoid feeling sadness or other painful emotions. | _ | R | |||
| 10. I tried not to think about certain things. | _ | R | |||
| 11. I did things even though they were hard because they fit in with my long-term goals for myself. | _ | _ | |||
| 12. I did something that was hard to do but it was worth it. | _ | _ | |||
| 13. I spent a long time thinking over and over about my problems. | _ | R | |||
|
A C |
A R |
W S |
||||
| SI | T | |||||
| 14. I kept trying to think of ways to solve a problem but never tried any of the solutions. |
_ |
R | ||||
| 15. I frequently spent time thinking about my past, people who have hurt me, mistakes I’ve made, and other bad things in my history. |
_ |
R |
||||
| 16. I did not see any of my friends. | _ | R | ||||
| 17. I was withdrawn and quiet, even around people I know well. | _ | R | ||||
| 18. I was not social, even though I had opportunities to be. | _ | R | ||||
| 19. I pushed people away with my negativity. | _ | R | ||||
| 20. I did things to cut myself off from other people. | _ | R | ||||
| 21. I took time off of work/school/chores/responsibilities simply because I was too tired or didn’t feel like going in. |
_ |
R | ||||
| 22. My work/schoolwork/chores/responsibilities suffered because I was not as active as I needed to be. |
_ |
R | ||||
| 23. I structured my day’s activities. | _ | _ | ||||
| 24. I only engaged in activities that would distract me from feeling bad. |
_ |
R | ||||
| 25. I began to feel badly when others around me expressed negative feelings or experiences. | R | |||||
| _ | ||||||
Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale – Short Form (BADS-SF)
Please read each statement carefully and then circle the number which best describes how much the statement was true for you DURING THE PAST WEEK, INCLUDING TODAY.
| 0 = Not at all | |||
| 1 | |||
| 2 = A little | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 = A lot | |||
| 5 | |||
| 6 = Completely | AC | AV | T |
| 1. There were certain things I needed to do that I didn’t do. | _ | R | |
| 2. I am content with the amount and types of things I did. | _ | _ | |
| 3. I engaged in many different activities. | _ | _ | |
| 4. I made good decisions about what type of activities and/or situations I put myself in. | _ | _ | |
| 5. I was an active person and accomplished the goals I set out to do. | _ | _ | |
| 6. Most of what I did was to escape from or avoid something unpleasant. | _ | R | |
| 7. I spent a long time thinking over and over about my problems. | _ | R | |
| 8. I engaged in activities that would distract me from feeling bad. | _ | R | |
| 9. I did things that were enjoyable. | _ | _ |