How well can a few questionnaire items indicate anxiety and depression?
Abstract
There is a need for a short form questionnaire with known psychometric characteristics that may be used as an indicator of level of global mental distress. A weighted sum of 5 questions from the Symptom Check List (SCL) anxiety and depression subscales (SCL‐25) correlates at r = 0.92 with the global SCL‐25 score. The alpha reliability for the (5‐item) short form questionnaire was 0.85. Age differences seemed to be trivial, and sex differences were moderate. Descriptive statistics for short form scores in a large, representative sample are given.
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The 5-item HSCL has shown good psychometric properties and correlates highly (r = 0.92) with the HSCL-25 in a general population sample.
“This abbreviated version of the HSCL has shown good psychometric properties and has previously been found to correlate highly (r = 0.92) with the HSCL-25 in a general population sample [18].”
From Worry and mental health in the Covid-19 pandemic: vulnerability factors in the general Norwegian population (2021) · cites this paper as [18]
Cites
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“…we identified two relevant reference RCTs (de Vibe andMoum 2006; Nyklicek and Kuijpers 2008), which included participants with perceived stress, and which had used the Symptom Check List (SCL)-5 (Tambs and Moum 1993) and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) (Cohen et al. 1983), as outcome measures.”
MethodCivic engagement and mental health trajectories in Norwegian youth
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- Authors
- Tambs, K., & Moum, T.
- Affiliations
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Corresponding author
- Tambs, K.
- Venue
- Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1993-05
- Volume
- 87
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 364-367
- ISSN
- 0001-690X (ISSN-L)
- 1600-0447
- OpenAlex
- W2141136114
- Cited by
- 445
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 31 · 2014: 31 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 29
- FWCI
- 2.69
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Norges Forskningsråd
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- anxiety, depression, short-form questionnaire, psychometric properties, reliability statistics, age differences, sex differences, questionnaire item reduction
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Personality Inventory, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Reproducibility of Results, Cohort Studies
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