Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (6-item).

K6

What it measures

Ultra-brief non-specific psychological distress over the past 30 days; the 6-item subset optimized to discriminate serious mental illness (SMI) in population screening

Length and format

6 items. 5-point frequency (0-4 or 1-5 depending on version), summed 0-24 (0-4 scoring); cut-off >=13 for serious mental illness (Kessler et al. 2003) (self-report questionnaire)

Language versions

Inherits the broad Kessler multi-language set; used across many national surveys (ZH, ES, JA, AR, etc.)

Normative data

No normative data held in our reference library for this instrument. That is a statement about our library, not about the published literature.

Licence

public-domain / open

Licence classification is a research judgement by the catalogue’s authors, not legal advice, and it can be out of date. Confirm terms with the copyright holder or publisher before using an instrument, especially for commercial use.

Reference

Kessler, R. C., Barker, P. R., Colpe, L. J., et al. (2003). Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60(2), 184-189.