Longitudinal Predictions of Depression Symptoms Using the Activation and Avoidance Subscales of the Japanese Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form

The Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale-Short Form (BADS-SF) is a questionnaire containing two subscales: Activation and Avoidance and was developed to measure changes in client behavior over the course of behavioral activation therapy. This study examines whether the subscales of the Japanese BADS-SF predict the future development of depression. Japanese university students (N = 129) completed the BADS-SF and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) at the baseline and second test conducted eight weeks later, with no intervention in between. Multiple regression analyses revealed that baseline avoidance scores predicted the scores of CES-D during the second test, after controlling for baseline CES-D and the other BADS-SF subscale scores, but the relationship of the Activation subscale with the CES-D scores was not significant. Therefore, the results indicate that the avoidance scale predicts the occurrence of symptoms of depression.