Description
The DASS is a set of three self-report scales designed to
measure the negative emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress. The
DASS was constructed not merely as another set of scales to measure
conventionally defined emotional states, but to further the process of
defining, understanding, and measuring the ubiquitous and clinically
significant emotional states usually described as depression, anxiety and
stress. The DASS should thus meet the requirements of both researchers and
scientist-professional clinicians.
Each of the three DASS scales contains 14 items, divided
into subscales of 2-5 items with similar content. The Depression scale assesses
dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of
interest/involvement, anhedonia, and inertia. The Anxiety scale assesses
autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situational anxiety, and subjective
experience of anxious affect. The Stress scale is sensitive to levels of
chronic non-specific arousal. It assesses difficulty relaxing, nervous arousal,
and being easily upset/agitated, irritable/over-reactive and impatient.
Subjects are asked to use 4-point severity/frequency scales to rate the extent
to which they have experienced each state over the past week. Scores for
Depression, Anxiety and Stress are calculated by summing the scores for the
relevant items.
As the scales of the DASS have been shown to have high
internal consistency and to yield meaningful discriminations in a variety of
settings, the scales should meet the needs of both researchers and clinicians
who wish to measure current state or change in state over time (e.g., in the
course of treatment) on the three dimensions of depression, anxiety and stress.
Conditions
Please read each statement and circle a number 0, 1, 2 or
3, which indicates how much the statement applied to you over the past
week. There are no right or wrong
answers. Do not spend too much time on
any statement.
The rating scale is as follows:
0 - Did not apply to me at all
1 - Applied to me to some degree, or some of the time
2 - Applied to me to a considerable degree, or a good
part of time
3 - Applied to me very much, or most of the time
Questions
1 I
found myself getting upset by quite trivial things
2 I was
aware of dryness of my mouth
3 I could
not seem to experience any positive feeling at all
4 I
experienced breathing difficulty (e.g., excessively rapid breathing, breathlessness
in the absence of physical exertion)
5 I
just could not seem to get going
6 I
tended to over-react to situations
7 I had
a feeling of shakiness (e.g., legs going to give way)
8 I
found it difficult to relax
9 I
found myself in situations that made me so anxious I was most relieved when
they ended
10 I felt
that I had nothing to look forward to
11 I found
myself getting upset rather easily
12 I felt
that I was using a lot of nervous energy
13 I felt
sad and depressed
14 I found
myself getting impatient when I was delayed in any way (e.g., lifts, traffic
lights, being kept waiting)
15 I had a
feeling of faintness
16 I felt
that I had lost interest in just about everything
17 I felt
I was not worth much as a person
18 I felt
that I was rather touchy
19 I
perspired noticeably (e.g., hands sweaty) in the absence of high temperatures
or physical exertion
20 I felt
scared without any good reason
21 I felt
that life was not worthwhile
22 I found
it hard to wind down
23 I had
difficulty in swallowing
24 I could
not seem to get any enjoyment out of the things I did
25 I was
aware of the action of my heart in the absence of physical exertion (e.g.,
sense of heart rate increase, heart missing a beat)
26 I felt downhearted
and blue
27 I found
that I was very irritable
28 I felt
I was close to panic
29 I found
it hard to calm down after something upset me
30 I
feared that I would be "thrown" by some trivial but unfamiliar task
31 I was
unable to become enthusiastic about anything
32 I found
it difficult to tolerate interruptions to what I was doing
33 I was
in a state of nervous tension
34 I felt
I was pretty worthless
35 I was
intolerant of anything that kept me from getting on with what I was doing
36 I felt
terrified
37 I could
see nothing in the future to be hopeful about
38 I felt
that life was meaningless
39 I found
myself getting agitated
40 I was
worried about situations in which I might panic and make a fool of myself
41 I
experienced trembling (e.g., in the hands)
42 I found
it difficult to work up the initiative to do things
Scoring
Scores of Depression, Anxiety and Stress are calculated
by summing the scores for the relevant items.
* The depression scale items are 3, 5, 10, 13, 16, 17,
21, 24, 26, 31, 34, 37, 38, 42.
* The anxiety scale items are 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 19, 20, 23,
25, 28, 30, 36, 40, 41.
* The stress scale items are 1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 18, 22,
27, 29, 32, 33, 35, 39.
After calculation scores for each of the scales, evaluate
the conditions severity based on the rating interpretation below.
Depression Scale
Normal---------------------0
– 9
Mild Depression----------10
– 13
Moderate Depression-----14
– 20
Severe Depression--------21
– 27
Extremely Severe---------28+
Anxiety Scale
Normal----------------------0
- 7
Mild Anxiety---------------8
– 9
Moderate Anxiety---------10
– 14
Severe Anxiety------------15
– 19
Extremely Severe---------20+
Stress Scale
Normal---------------------0
– 14
Mild Stress----------------15
– 18
Moderate Stress----------19
– 25
Severe Stress-------------26
– 33
Extremely Severe--------34+
Characteristics of
high scorers on each DASS scale
Depression scale:
* self-disparaging
* dispirited, gloomy, blue
* convinced that life has no meaning or value
* pessimistic about the future
* unable to experience enjoyment or satisfaction
* unable to become interested or involved
* slow, lacking in initiative
Anxiety scale:
* apprehensive, panicky
* trembly, shaky
* aware of dryness of the mouth, breathing difficulties,
pounding of the heart, sweatiness of the palms
* worried about performance and possible loss of control
Stress scale
* over-aroused, tense
* unable to relax
* touchy, easily upset
* irritable
* easily startled
* nervy, jumpy, fidgety
* intolerant of interruption or delay
Sources and
Additional Information:
