DASS21 Name: Date:Please read each statement and circle a number 0, 1, 2 or 3 which indicates how much the statementapplied to you over the past week. There are no right or wrong answers. Do not spend too muchtime on any statement.The rating scale is as follows:0 Did not apply to me at all1 Applied to me to some degree, or some of the time2 Applied to me to a considerable degree or a good part of time3 Applied to me very much or most of the time 1 (s)I found it hard to wind down01232 (a)I was aware of dryness of my mouth01233 (d)I couldn’t seem to experience any positive feeling at all01234 (a)I experienced breathing difficulty (e.g. excessively rapid breathing,breathlessness in the absence of physical exertion)01235 (d)I found it difficult to work up the initiative to do things01236 (s)I tended to over-react to situations01237 (a)I experienced trembling (e.g. in the hands)01238 (s)I felt that I was using a lot of nervous energy01239 (a)I was worried about situations in which I might panic and make a foolof myself012310 (d)I felt that I had nothing to look forward to012311 (s)I found myself getting agitated012312 (s)I found it difficult to relax012313 (d)I felt down-hearted and blue012314 (s)I was intolerant of anything that kept me from getting on with what Iwas doing012315 (a)I felt I was close to panic012316 (d)I was unable to become enthusiastic about anything012317 (d)I felt I wasn’t worth much as a person012318 (s)I felt that I was rather touchy012319 (a)I was aware of the action of my heart in the absence of physicalexertion (e.g. sense of heart rate increase, heart missing a beat)012320 (a)I felt scared without any good reason012321 (d)I felt that life was meaningless0123 DASS-21 Scoring InstructionsThe DASS-21 should not be used to replace a face to face clinical interview. If you are experiencing significantemotional difficulties you should contact your GP for a referral to a qualified professional.Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 Items (DASS-21)The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 Items (DASS-21) is a set of three self-report scales designed tomeasure the emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress.Each of the three DASS-21 scales contains 7 items, divided into subscales with similar content. The depressionscale assesses dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of interest / involvement,anhedonia and inertia. The anxiety scale assesses autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situationalanxiety, and subjective experience of anxious affect. The stress scale is sensitive to levels of chronic nonspecific arousal. It assesses difficulty relaxing, nervous arousal, and being easily upset / agitated, irritable /over-reactive and impatient. Scores for depression, anxiety and stress are calculated by summing the scoresfor the relevant items.The DASS-21 is based on a dimensional rather than a categorical conception of psychological disorder. Theassumption on which the DASS-21 development was based (and which was confirmed by the research data) isthat the differences between the depression, anxiety and the stress experienced by normal subjects andclinical populations are essentially differences of degree. The DASS-21 therefore has no direct implications forthe allocation of patients to discrete diagnostic categories postulated in classificatory systems such as theDSM and ICD.Recommended cut-off scores for conventional severity labels (normal, moderate, severe) are as follows:NB Scores on the DASS-21 will need to be multiplied by 2 to calculate the final score. DepressionAnxietyStressNormal0-90-70-14Mild10-138-915-18Moderate14-2010-1419-25Severe21-2715-1926-33Extremely Severe28+20+34+ Lovibond, S.H. & Lovibond, P.F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety & Stress Scales. (2nd Ed.)Sydney: Psychology Foundation.
