Abstract

Objective The Bipolar Depression Rating Scale (BDRS) is a structured rating scale designed to assess depressive and mixed symptoms in bipolar disorder (BD). Previous studies evaluating the scale have been performed on small samples or on patients in a depressive phase, but not on patients in a mixed or manic phase. This study evaluated the Persian version of the BDRS regarding its factor structure, reliability, and validity in a large sample of Iranian women with BD in a depressive or mixed/manic phase. Methods Three-hundred and one female BD inpatients completed the BDRS, the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the Montgomery-angstrom sberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS), and the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). Results The BDRS demonstrated a three-factor structure with good reliability. The BDRS and its psychological and somatic symptom clusters had stronger correlations with other measures of depressive symptoms than a measure of mania. The BDRS mixed symptom cluster also had a stronger correlation with a measure of mania than other measures of depression, supporting the scales' convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusions The BDRS demonstrated psychometric validity in assessing depressive and mixed symptoms in Iranian women with BD in a depressive or mixed/manic phase.