Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)

## **How to use the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)** Using this version of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale is easy – just follow the steps below: ### **Step 1: Have your client answer the questionnaire** When you're at the point in your sessions where you need to get a sense of the level of your client's non-specific psychological distress (not clinically significant psychological distress!), administer the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) to them. All they need to do is rate themselves based on each question, from 1 to 5. ### **Step 2: Add up the scores** Once your client submits the completed questionnaire, you need to add the scores. The minimum score that a client can get is 10, and the highest is 50. Low scores are good because they mean the client is likely to be well or only experiences mild psychological distress. High scores mean the opposite. Here's the scoring guide based on the 2001 Victorian Population Health Survey: - **10-19**: Your client is likely to be psychologically well and sound. - **20-24**: Your client is likely to have a mild mental disorder. - **25-29**: Your client is likely to have a moderate mental disorder. - **30-50**: Your client is likely to have a severe mental disorder. ### **Step 3: Come up with a treatment plan** Once you've added up the client's scores, you should be able to determine the next steps for your sessions, depending on their level of psychological distress.

## **When would you typically use a Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)?** You can issue your client the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) when you're at the stage in your sessions where you need to understand their psychological distress level. This doesn't mean it's a one-off thing, though! Suppose your client scores high, meaning they are likely to have moderate/severe psychological distress and mental disorder. In that case, it's best to keep issuing them the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale every four weeks to properly monitor their psychological distress. As they go about their treatment plan, reissuing the scale is an excellent way to track their psychological state properly.

## **Who can use this printable Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)?** The following healthcare practitioners can use the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) for their respective practices: - Mental health therapists - Counselors - Clinical psychologists - Psychiatrists Their clients will engage with the scale the most since they will rate themselves based on the questions. It's recommended that such professionals use other short screening scales to cover as much ground as possible to determine if the psychological distress is tied to a specific mental health condition, like generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder, such as the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview.

## **Benefits** Using our Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) template also offers the following benefits: ### **Gauge the client's psychological distress** Your client may have trouble articulating themselves when discussing their mental health and psychological state. By having your client rate themselves, you'll get an idea of how good or bad their psychological state/distress is. ### **Formulating a treatment plan** Given that the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) comes with a scoring guide that has specific designations depending on the score range, the psychological distress score will help you create a treatment plan, especially if they fall into the ranges where they are likely to have a mild, moderate, or severe mental disorder. ### **Monitor clients' psychological distress state over time** If your client scored high initially and you created a plan where they have to attend sessions with you for an extended period of time, reissuing the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale every four weeks would be great because it'll help you see if your treatment plan is working or not, and if your client's mental state is improving.

## **Research and evidence** Both versions of this tool (the first is the K6; K10 is the one we're using) were subjected to a clinical reappraisal survey, specifically the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for K6, and the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing (NSMHWB) for K10. These appraisals led to the current versions for both. These appraisals also determined that these measures "demonstrate consistent psychometric properties across major sociodemographic subsamples" and "strongly discriminate between community cases and non-cases of DSM-IV/SCID disorders" (Kessler et al., 2002).

## **Reference** 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, 32(6), 959–976. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291702006074