How well can a few questionnaire items indicate anxiety and depression?

Area of Science:

• Psychometrics
• Mental Health Assessment
• Psychological distress measurement

Background:

• A validated short-form questionnaire is needed for assessing global mental distress.
• Existing measures may be too lengthy for rapid screening.
• The Symptom Check List (SCL) is a widely used mental health assessment tool.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a brief, 5-item questionnaire for measuring global mental distress.
• To assess the psychometric properties of the short-form questionnaire.
• To provide descriptive statistics for the short-form scores in a large sample.

Main Methods:

• A 5-item short form was derived from the anxiety and depression subscales of the Symptom Check List (SCL-25).
• The correlation between the short form and the global SCL-25 score was calculated.
• Internal consistency (alpha reliability) and demographic differences (age, sex) were examined.

Main Results:

• The 5-item short form demonstrated a high correlation (r = 0.92) with the global SCL-25 score.
• The questionnaire achieved good internal consistency with an alpha reliability of 0.85%.
• Age differences were negligible, while moderate sex differences were observed.

Conclusions:

• The 5-item short form is a psychometrically sound and reliable tool for indicating global mental distress.
• This brief questionnaire can serve as an efficient screening instrument in clinical and research settings.
• The findings support the use of this short form for rapid mental health assessment across diverse populations.