Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)
Psychology: Mental HealthReliability: alpha 0.933 sample items
About this scale
A 10-item measure of non-specific psychological distress in the past 4 weeks. Used in national health surveys including the US NHIS and the Australian NHS.
Sample item(s)
“About how often did you feel tired out for no good reason?”
“About how often did you feel nervous?”
“About how often did you feel restless or fidgety?”
Reliability
Reported internal consistency: alpha 0.93. As a rule of thumb, Cronbach’s α ≥ .70 is considered acceptable, ≥ .80 good, and ≥ .90 excellent for established measures.
Notes
Free for academic use.
Source & citation
Kessler, R. C., Andrews, G., Colpe, L. J., Hiripi, E., Mroczek, D. K., Normand, S. L. T., Walters, E. E., & Zaslavsky, A. M. (2002): Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychological Medicine, Vol. 32, No. 6, pp. 959–976.
Kessler et al. (2002): K10. Psychological Medicine, 32(6), 959–976.
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.
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