Depression, anxiety (dis)stress
Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 42 Item (DASS-42)
Link
Type
- Discriminative
- Evaluative
Description
- Measures the commonly experienced emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress.
- Can identify individuals who may be at risk of future psychological problems.
- Clarifies the locus of emotional disturbance, as part of a broader clinical assessment.
- Can classify symptom severity (normal, moderate, severe).
- Measures change in symptoms over time.
Advantages
- Provides more information about symptoms and is more reliable than the DASS-21.
- Translated into multiple languages.
- Based on a dimensional rather than a categorical conception of psychological disorder.
- Identifies high levels of distress in individuals who may not fit into a diagnostic category.
Precautions or limitations
- Does not assess all symptoms that people may manifest if they are clinically depressed, anxious or stressed (e.g. sleep, appetite, sexual disturbances).
- Ensure that the correct scoring template and severity categories are being used (not to be confused with the DASS-21).
Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale 21 Item (DASS-21)
Link
Type
- Discriminative
- Evaluative
Description
- Measures the commonly experienced emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress.
- Can identify individuals who may be at risk of future psychological problems.
- Clarifies the locus of emotional disturbance, as part of a broader clinical assessment.
- Can classify symptom severity (normal, moderate, severe).
- Measures change in symptoms over time.
Advantages
- Quicker to administer than the DASS-42.
- Translated into multiple languages.
- Based on a dimensional rather than a categorical conception of psychological disorder.
- Identifies high levels of distress in individuals who may not fit into a diagnostic category.
Precautions or limitations
- Does not assess all symptoms that people may manifest if they are clinically depressed, anxious or stressed (e.g. sleep, appetite, sexual disturbances).
- The full DASS is generally preferable because it provides more information about symptoms and is more reliable.
- Ensure that the correct scoring template and severity categories are being used (not to be confused with the DASS-42).
Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10)
Link
- Access the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10)
Type
- Evaluative
- Predictive
Description
- Simply and quickly measures psychological distress and monitors outcomes following treatment for common mental health disorders.
- Screens for psychological distress and to assist treatment planning and monitoring.
Advantages
- 10-item questionnaire with a 5-level response scale that yields a global measure of distress.
- Scores range from 10 to 50 and may indicate whether a client is likely to have a mild (20-24), moderate (25-29) or severe (30+) mental disorder.
Precautions or limitations
- Clinical judgement is required for diagnosis and to determine whether a person needs treatment.
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Impact of Events Scale – Revised (IES–R)
Link
- Access the Impact of Events Scale – Revised (IES–R)
Type
- Discriminative
- Predictive
Description
- Assesses for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Cut-off scores can be used for a preliminary diagnosis of PTSD.
- Can be used repeatedly to assess treatment progress.
Advantages
- The revised version has an additional 7 questions to the original IES.
- Brief completion and scoring.
- Correlates with the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD.
- Translated into several languages.
Precautions or limitations
- Items correspond directly to 14 of the 17 DSM-IV symptoms of PTSD, rather than the DSM-5 PTSD criteria.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist – 5 (PCL–5)
Link
Type
- Discriminative
- Evaluative
- Predictive
Description
- Screens for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), making a provisional PTSD diagnosis and measuring symptom change during and after treatment.
- Can be administered in one of three formats: without Criterion A, with a brief Criterion A assessment, or with the revised Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 and extended Criterion A assessment. MDC = 5, MCID = 10.
Advantages
- The wording of PCL-5 items reflect both changes to existing symptoms and the addition of new symptoms in DSM-5.
- Takes 5-10 minutes to complete.
- Can be scored in different ways. These include total symptom severity score and DSM-5 cluster severity scores. A provisional PTSD diagnosis can be made by regarding each item rated as 2 or higher as a symptom endorsed and following the DSM-5 diagnostic rules (i.e. 1 B item, 1 C item, 2 D items, and 2 E items). A PCL-5 cut-point of 33 can be used.
Precautions or limitations
- Change scores for PCL-5 are currently being determined. It is expected that reliable and clinically meaningful change will be in a similar range as for the PCL.
Substance use
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test short form (AUDIT-C)
Link
Type
- Discriminative
Description
- A shortened version of the 10-item AUDIT tool to screen for risky and high risk drinking.
- A brief alcohol screen that reliably identifies people who are hazardous drinkers or have alcohol use disorders.
- Comprises 3 questions, each with 5 response options. Scores greater than 4 or 3 in men and women, respectively, may indicate hazardous drinking or alcohol use disorder. The total score (out of 12) indicates, no, low, medium or high risk of harm.
Advantages
- The AUDIT-C is approximately equal in accuracy to the full AUDIT.
Precautions or limitations
- When points are all from question 1 alone, it is suggested that the clinician review the client's alcohol intake over the past few months to confirm accuracy.
- It is not in itself a diagnostic instrument. If a client is identified as a harmful drinker by the AUDIT, they will need a more thorough clinical assessment.
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
Link
Access the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
Type
- Evaluative
- Predictive
Description
- Screening tool for risky and high risk drinking.
- Assesses alcohol consumption, drinking behaviours and alcohol-related problems.
- The supplementary questions provide useful clinical information about the person's perception of whether they have a problem with alcohol and their confidence that change is possible in the short-term.
Advantages
- Sub-scores for consumption, dependence, and alcohol-related problems can be calculated.
- A cut-off score of 8 or more for men and 6 or more for women suggest alcohol-related problems.
- Available in multiple languages.
- Developed by the World Health Organization.
- Shows good responsiveness to change.
Precautions or limitations
- It is not in itself a diagnostic instrument. If a client is identified as a harmful drinker by the AUDIT, they will need a more thorough clinical assessment.
Drug Use Disorders Identification Test (DUDIT)
Link
Type
- Discriminative
- Evaluative
Description
- Developed as a parallel instrument to the AUDIT for identification of individuals with drug-related problems.
Advantages
- The most widely used drug screening tool. A client with a score of 25 or more is likely to be dependent on one or more drugs. A cut-off score of 6 or more for men and 2 or more for women suggest drug-related problems.
- Tested in a variety of settings and populations.
- Takes about 5 minutes to complete.
Precautions or limitations
- It is not in itself a diagnostic instrument. If a client is identified as a harmful drug user by the DUDIT, they will need a more thorough clinical assessment.
Child/Adolescent
Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 – Child/Adolescent version (CAPS-CA-5)
Link
Type
- Discriminative
- Evaluative
Description
- A 30-item clinician-administered posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scale based on DSM-5 criteria for children and adolescents aged 7 and over.
- The clinician asks standardised questions and probes about each of the 20 DSM-5 PTSD symptoms. Can be used to measure changes in symptoms since a previous CAPS administration.
Advantages
- This is a modified version of the CAPS-5 that includes age-appropriate items and picture response options. Questions also target the onset and duration of symptoms, subjective distress, impact of symptoms on social functioning, impairment in development, overall response validity, overall PTSD severity, improvement in symptoms since a previous CAPS administration, and specifications for the dissociative subtype (depersonalization and derealisation).
Precautions or limitations
- Designed to be administered by clinicians who have a working knowledge of PTSD, but can also be administered by appropriately trained paraprofessionals.
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
Link
Type
- Evaluative
- Predictive
Description
- Screens for emotional and behavioural difficulties in children/adolescents and measures change following intervention.
- A brief behavioural screening questionnaire for 2-17 year olds. It has several different versions, including parent- and teacher-report and self-report for 11-17 year olds.
- Used as an outcome measure in child and adolescent mental health services in Australia.
- 25 items divided between 5 scales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems and prosocial behaviour.
Advantages
- Free to access, quick to administer and available in self-, parent-, and teacher-report versions.
- In community samples, multi-informant SDQs can predict the presence of a psychiatric disorder with good specificity and moderate sensitivity.
- Translated into more than 80 languages.
Precautions or limitations
- Further research may be necessary to examine it as a tool for guiding treatment and for measuring outcomes resulting from treatment. The SDQ may have some weaknesses in terms of its ability to detect specific disorders. There are no specific scales focusing on trauma symptomatology.
Neuropsychology
Overt Behaviour Scale (OBS)
Link
- Access the Overt Behaviour Scale (OBS)
Type
- Evaluative
Description
- Clarifies the types of observable challenging behaviours that can occur following acquired brain injury.
- Can help show how behaviours may have changed over time and can inform decisions related to clinical interventions. Can also be used to measure the frequency and impact of the behaviour.
- 9 categories of behaviour can be scored. Clinicians can score the severity, frequency, and impact of each behaviour.
Advantages
- Covers the most commonly encountered behaviours of concern in community settings.
- A children's version of the scale could be used: OBS-C.
Precautions or limitations
- Because this scale was validated with adults with an acquired brain injury in community settings, it may not describe the behaviours most commonly seen in other populations (e.g. intellectual disability or autism).