Validation of the Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale in Korean Samples of University Students

This article consists of three studies designed to validate the Korean version of the Activation for Depression Scale (K-BADS) among three samples of undergraduate students contribute to the study and practical application of behavioral activation treatment in Korea. In Study 1, with an undergraduate sample (n=256), exploratory factor analyses of the K-BADS revealed a four-factor solution: activation (AC), avoidance/rumination (AR), work/social impairment (WS), and social impairment (SI), consistently with the original version of the BADS. The K-BADS showed high internal consistency, corrected item-total correlations, and good test-retest reliability. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the four-factor structure was replicated with an independent sample (n=272). Furthermore, the K-BADS showed good convergent, discrimination, criterion-related, and incremental validities. In Study 3, participants in the behavioral activation intervention (n=10) showed a significantly greater increase in behavioral activation levels as measured with the K-BADS total and subscales, and decreased depressive symptoms. This finding indicates that the K-BADS total and subscales are sensitive to assessing changes following behavioral activation intervention. Finally, the results of these studies suggest that the K-BADS is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the behavioral activation level of undergraduate students in Korea.