Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
Psychology: Mental HealthReliability: HADS-A alpha 0.83; HADS-D alpha 0.823 sample items
About this scale
A 14-item self-report measure with 7 anxiety and 7 depression items designed for non-psychiatric medical outpatients. Avoids somatic items that overlap with physical illness.
Sample item(s)
“I feel tense or wound up (HADS-A)”
“I get a sort of frightened feeling as if something awful is about to happen (HADS-A)”
“I have lost interest in my appearance (HADS-D)”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: HADS-A alpha 0.83; HADS-D alpha 0.82. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Commonly used in occupational-health and medical research.
Source & citation
Zigmond, A. S., & Snaith, R. P. (1983): The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Vol. 67, No. 6, pp. 361–370.
Source. Scale details are summarised from the publication cited above. Always consult the original source for the full item set, scoring, and permission to use.
Use it in your research
Need to check the reliability or psychometrics of this scale in your own data? Use the free DrAIStudio research tools:
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