Abstract

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.