MHSF-III
ValidatedMental Health Screening Form-III (MHSF-III)
Adults (18+), especially in substance use treatmentSelf, Clinician~5 min18 questions
Each item refers to your entire life history, not just your current situation — this is why each question begins "Have you ever...". Please answer "yes" or "no" for each question.
Report details · optional
Shown on the report and stored with the screening record. Use initials or a code, not full names.
Answers, results and report details are recorded by OpenScreener to monitor and improve the service. Privacy
About this screener — evidence, source
Developed in a substance use treatment setting to flag possible co-occurring mental disorders. Each question asks about lifetime symptoms of one disorder area (psychosis, depression and suicide attempts, PTSD, phobias, aggression, paranoia, eating, mania, panic, OCD, gambling, learning problems). Any "yes" from question 3 onward means a qualified mental-health professional should decide whether further evaluation is needed.
Evidence · provisional
SAMHSA TIP 42 describes the MHSF-III as having face validity — a "yes" to an item warrants further evaluation for the disorder it represents — and notes it has been used in integrated care and behavioural health courts. With one question per disorder, false negatives are possible. We did not find published sensitivity and specificity for the 1+ threshold.
Source & licence
Carroll JFX, McGinley JJ. Mental Health Screening Form-III. New York: Project Return Foundation; 2000. Carroll JFX, McGinley JJ. A screening form for identifying mental health problems in alcohol/other drug dependent persons. Alcohol Treat Q. 2001;19(4):33–47. Reprinted in SAMHSA TIP 42 (PEP20-02-01-004), Exhibit 3.7.
Licence: Free to reproduce — "The MHSF-III may be reproduced or copied, in entirety, without permission" (SAMHSA TIP 42, Exhibit 3.7; © Project Return Foundation, Inc.).
Reproduce in its entirety. Wording from TIP 42 Exhibit 3.7; scoring from TIP 42 and the Connecticut DMHAS copy of the form (https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/dmhas/cosig/mhsfiiipdf.pdf: questions 1 and 2 not scored; positive = 1 or more). The form's "days since last use" field is not included.
Official source ↗