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A dimensionality study of the Beck Depression Inventory—II (BDI—II) employing factor analytic and principal component statistical methods was undertaken with a sample of 390 women diagnosed with major depressive disorder. The results, which replicated Steer et al.(1999), indicated that the BDI—II can be decomposed into two subscales: Loss and Impairment (comprised of primarily somatic-affective symptomatology) and Negative Theory of Self and Social Environment (comprised of primarily cognitive symptomatology). Given the evidence for these two subscales, it is argued that the interpretation of the total score may obscure important differences between the corresponding two symptomatic dimensions of depression. For example, two individuals with the same total score may differ in terms of the relative severity and frequency of somatic-affective versus cognitive symptomatology. Therefore, utilizing only the …