K6
ValidatedKessler Psychological Distress Scale – 6 item (K6)
Adults (18+)Self~2 min6 questions
During the PAST 30 DAYS, how often did you feel…
Report details · optional
Shown on the report and stored with the screening record. Use initials or a code, not full names.
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About this screener — evidence, source
The six-item short form of the K10, asking how often in the past 30 days the person felt sad, nervous, restless, hopeless, that everything was an effort, or worthless. Items are scored 0–4 (total 0–24). Used in US national health surveys (NHIS, NSDUH) to estimate serious psychological distress, and as a brief clinical screen.
Evidence · validated
In a clinical validation sample of 155 respondents interviewed with the SCID, the K6 predicted serious mental illness with an area under the ROC curve of 0.865, with a reported sensitivity of 0.36 and specificity of 0.96 (Kessler et al., Arch Gen Psychiatry 2003) — i.e. a positive screen is informative but a negative one does not rule out illness. The ≥ 13 threshold is the one used by NCHS for serious psychological distress.
Source & licence
Kessler RC, Barker PR, Colpe LJ, et al. Screening for serious mental illness in the general population. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2003;60(2):184–189. Kessler RC, Andrews G, Colpe LJ, et al. Psychol Med. 2002;32(6):959–976. Item wording and scoring as published by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics (Pratt LA, Dey AN, Cohen AJ. Advance Data No. 382, 2007).
Licence: © Ronald C. Kessler — free to use; the developers state no formal permission or approval is required. Wording reproduced from a U.S. government (NCHS) publication.
Official scale page: https://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/ncs/k6_scales.php. Cite Kessler et al. (2002, 2003).
Official source ↗