The Validation of the Korean Masculine Depression Scale
AUTHOR : 우성범,양은주
INFORMATION : page. 115~132 / 2014 Vol.21 No.2
ABSTRACT
This study sought to validate the Masculine Depression Scale (MDS) with Korean men, examining its
applicability in assessing male depression in South Korea. The MDS is a self-report measure used to assess
the behaviors related to masculine depression. Two bilinguals who were fluent in English and Korean
translated the questions of the MDS into Korean and then another two bilinguals confirmed the
consistency of meaning by translating them again into English. A total of 342 Korean men participated in
the initial data collection for exploratory factor analyses. Factor analyses yielded a three-factor solution:
‘internalizing’, ‘externalizing’, and ‘repression of expression’ accounting for 46.3% of the variance. To
conduct confirmatory factor analyses, data from another sample with 160 male participants were collected.
The participants completed a questionnaire consisting of the Korean-translated MDS, the Beck Depression
Inventory (BDI), and the Korea Sex Role Inventory (KSRI). Masculinity predicted the differences between
BDI and externalizing symptoms and between BDI and suppression of symptoms, but did not predict the
difference between BDI and internalizing symptoms. These results imply that the expression of depression
may be related to gender role identity, and the unique characteristics of male depression should be
considered in the development of screening procedures and treatment programs.