The Occupational Depression Inventory (ODI) is a
psychometric
Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally covers specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and rela ...
instrument, the purpose of which is to assess the severity of work-related depressive symptoms and arrive at a provisional diagnosis of depressive disorder.
[Bianchi, R., & Schonfeld, I. S. (2020). The Occupational Depression Inventory: A new tool for clinicians and epidemiologists. ''Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 138'', 110249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.110249][Schonfeld, I. S., & Bianchi, R. (2022). Distress in the workplace: Characterizing the relationship of burnout measures to the Occupational Depression Inventory. ''International Journal of Stress Management, 29''(3), 253-259. https://doi.org/10.1037/str0000261] The ODI can be used by occupational health specialists and epidemiologists.
Occupational health specialists (e.g.,
occupational physicians,
occupational health psychologists, and
clinical psychologists
Clinical psychology is an integration of human science, behavioral science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or Mental disorder, dysfunction and to promote ...
) can employ the instrument to ascertain the extent to which a worker has experienced work-related depressive symptoms. It would then be incumbent upon the specialists to identify and correct the specific job conditions (e.g., work overload, bullying) that give rise to elevations in depressive symptoms. Epidemologists can take advantage of an algorithm
that comes with the instrument to ascertain the frequency of provisional cases of work-related depressive disorder. Moreover, available evidence indicates that burnout scales have very high correlations with the ODI, correlations that cannot be explained by item content overlap, suggesting that the ODI is a suitable replacement for burnout scales like the MBI.
The original ODI was first published in English and French. Both versions have excellent psychometric properties.
Since its inception, psychometrically valid versions of the instrument have become available in other languages, including Spanish,
[Bianchi, R., Manzano-García, G., Montañés Muro, M. P., Schonfeld, E. A., & Schonfeld, I. S. (2022). Occupational depression in a Spanish-speaking sample: Associations with cognitive performance and work-life characteristics. ''Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology/Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones, 38''(1), 59-74]
/ref> Italian,[Bianchi, R., Fiorilli, C., Angelini, G., Dozio, N., Palazzi, C., Palazzi, G., Vitiello, B., & Schonfeld, I. S. (2022). Occupational depression in Italy: Associations with health, economic, and work-life characteristics. ''Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13'', 061293]
/ref> Brazilian Portuguese,[Bianchi, R., Calixto Cavalcante, D., Queirós, C., Menezes Santos, B. D., & Schonfeld, I. S. (2023). Validation of the Occupational Depression Inventory in Brazil: A study of 1,612 civil servants. ''Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 167'', 111194. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2023.111194] and Swedish.[Jansson-Fröjmark, M., Badinlou, F., Lundgren, T., Schonfeld, I. S., & Bianchi, R. (2023). Validation of the Occupational Depression Inventory in Sweden. ''BMC Public Health, 23'', 1505. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16417-w"]
Validity research on the ODI has been conducted in several countries. These countries include the United States,[Bianchi, R., Sowden, J., Verkuilen, J., & Schonfeld, I. S. (2023). Toward a new approach to job-related distress: A three-sample study of the Occupational Depression Inventory. ''Stress & Health, 39'', 137-153. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3177] New Zealand,[Sowden, J. F., Schonfeld, I. S., & Bianchi, R. (2022). Are Australian teachers burned-out or depressed? A confirmatory factor analytic study involving the Occupational Depression Inventory. ''Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 157'', 110783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2022.110783] and Sweden
Notes
See also
* Beck Depression Inventory
The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI, BDI-1A, BDI-II), created by Aaron T. Beck, is a 21-question multiple-choice self-report inventory, one of the most widely used psychometric tests for measuring the severity of depression. Its development mar ...
* Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)
* Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was originally developed by Zigmond and Snaith (1983) and is commonly used by doctors to determine the levels of anxiety and depression that a person is experiencing. The HADS is a 14-item scale, with ...
* Occupational burnout
The ICD-11 of the World Health Organization (WHO) describes occupational burnout as a work-related phenomenon resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. According to the WHO, symptoms include "feelings of e ...
* Occupational health psychology
Occupational health psychology (OHP) is an interdisciplinary area of psychology that is concerned with the health and safety of workers.Schonfeld, I.S., & Chang, C.-H. (2017). ''Occupational health psychology: Work, stress, and health''. New York ...
* Nine-Item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)
* Rating scales for depression
A depression rating scale is a psychometric instrument (tool), usually a questionnaire whose wording has been validated with experimental evidence, having descriptive words and phrases that indicate the severity of depression for a time period ...
* Society for Occupational Health Psychology
References
{{reflist, 2
Depression (mood)
Mood disorders
Psychometrics
Depression screening and assessment tools
Applied psychology