Graduate Program

School Psychology

Degree Name

Specialist in School Psychology

Semester of Degree Completion

Summer 2020

Thesis Director

Gary L. Canivez

Thesis Committee Member

Assege HaileMariam

Thesis Committee Member

Ronan S. Bernas

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to replicate the construct validity of a new measure of depression, the Teate Depression Inventory (TDI; Balsamo & Saggino, 2013), with the primary focus on Black/African American participants. Research has purported that Black/African Americans experience inequality in obtaining mental health care for internalizing disorders. This may partially be caused by errors in diagnosing these individuals with symptoms. Correctly diagnosing internalizing disorders is a critical step in obtaining appropriate treatment. More research on depression and anxiety is needed to enhance mental health practices by addressing the need for professionals to be culturally competent and conscious of the appropriate assessment tools available. To support ethnic minorities, the validity of measurements must be assessed. Research has supported strong psychometric qualities of the TDI, including acceptable construct validity with a small African American sample (Rushworth, 2017).

This study addressed the following research questions: (1) Does the TDI present appropriate construct validity?) 2) Does the TDI have evidence of convergent and discriminant validity with comparisons to General Behavior Inventory (GBI; Depue, 1987) and State-Trait Inventory for Cognitive and Somatic Anxiety (STICSA; Ree, MacLeod, French, & Locke, 2000): convergent validity coefficients for the TDI and GBI Depression scales showing higher correlations, while discriminant validity coefficients for the TDI, STICSA and the GBI Hypomanic/Biphasic scales showing lower correlations? 3) Is there equivalent convergent and discriminate validity coefficients between the TDI and the GBI depression scale for White/Caucasians and Black/African Americans? 4) Is there similar convergent and discriminant validity coefficients between the TDI and the STICSA cognitive scale for White/Caucasian and Black/African Americans? Participants completed an anonymous survey using Qualtrics that consisted of the TDI, STICSA, and GBI. Data collected from the present thesis was combined with Rushworth (2016) to provide more stable estimates for convergent and discriminant validity. Results indicated that convergent and discriminant validity supported the appropriateness of using the TDI to assess mental health in Black/African Americans.

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