Depression, Anxiety, & Stress Scale

Overview

Authors: Lovibond, S.H. & Lovibond, P.F

Year of Publication: 1995

Publisher: Sydney: Psychology Foundation

Type of Assessments: 

• Standardized 

• Self-report

• Norm-referenced

Cost: Free (Manual = $55.20)

How to Access: https://www2.psy.unsw.edu.au/dass/ 

Age: 18+ (DASS-Y - 7-18yrs)

Diagnoses: All diagnoses!! 

Setting: All settings!!

Areas Assessed:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Stress

Administration

Time: 5-10 mins

Group/Individual: Individual

Subtests: 42 questions based on  that fall within one of three subscales:

• Depression - assesses symptoms such as dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of interest/involvement, anhedonia, and inertia.

• Anxiety - evaluates symptoms such as autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situational anxiety, and subjective experience of anxious affect

• Stress - measures symptoms related to difficulty relaxing, nervous arousal, and being easily upset/agitated, irritable/over-reactive, and impatience.

Instructions: Please read each statement and choose a response that 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.

• 0 = Never - Did not apply to me at all

• 1 = Sometimes - applied to me to some degree, or some of the time

• 2 = Often - Applied to me a considerable degree, or a good part of the time

• 3 = Almost Always - Applied to me very much, or most of the time

Materials: DASS scoring sheet

User Qualifications: N/A

Scoring Procedures

How to Score: Scores will fall into a depression, anxiety, or stress category and an overall total psychological distress score:

• Each question is associated with one of the three emotion states. Scores for each of category will be determined by totaling the scores for each associated category (14 questions per category)

  • Depression (Items 3, 5, 10, 13, 16, 17, 21, 24, 26, 31, 34, 37, 38, 42)

  • Anxiety (Items 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 19, 20, 23, 25, 28, 30, 36, 40, 41)

  • Stress (Items 1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 18, 22, 27, 29, 32, 33, 35, 39)

• Total scores are determined by summing all scores for all 42 items

Score Indications: Higher scores indicates greater severity or frequency of negative emotional symptoms

• Depression:

  • Normal = 0-9

  • Mild = 10-13

  • Moderate = 14-20

  • Severe = 21-27

  • Extremely Severe = 28+

• Anxiety:

  • Normal = 0-7

  • Mild = 8-9

  • Moderate = 10-14

  • Severe = 15-19

  • Extremely Severe = 20+

• Stress:

  • Normal = 0-14

  • Mild = 15-18

  • Moderate = 19-25

  • Severe = 26-33

  • Extremely Severe = 34+

• Total:

  • Normal = 0-32

  • Mild = 33-39

  • Moderate = 40-49

  • Severe = 50-57

  • Extremely Severe = 58+

Psychometrics

Reliability:

• Internal reliability: .97 (total), .96 (depression), .92 (anxiety), .94 (stress)

• Test-retest: .71-.81 (depression), .74-.81 (anxiety), .81-.89 (stress)

Validity: 

• Construct: Moderate to Strong relationships

Pros & Cons

Strengths: 

• Can assist in outcome monitoring and tracking progression of psychological symptoms

• Provides a general indication of psychological distress

• Quick, efficient, easy to use

• Free to administer

• Shorter versions available (DASS-21/DASS-10)

• Measures the three prominent emotional states (depression, anxiety, & stress) separately

• Strong psychometrics

• Highly applicable to many settings & diagnoses

• Norm-referenced

• Kid-friendly version available (DASS-Y)

Weaknesses: 

• Not diagnostic

• Self-report - bias

• Does not offer context or descriptions of personal outcomes effected by depression, anxiety & stress (if they do not align with those asked on the form)

• Does not assess positive emotional states

• Must be language proficient to carry out

DASS-Y

Utilized for youth ages 7-18 years old to measure general psychological distress and negative emotional states of depression, anxiety, & stress

• The wording is simplified compared to the adult version to make it more relevant to younger people

• Time: 5-10 mins

• 21 items (7 items per category)

• Total scores provide an overall measure of psychological distress

• Can be used in clinical settings to identify and monitor the course of psychological distress symptoms or non-clinical settings as a mental health screening questionnaire

• Can be used in school-based and pediatric clinics

• Antony, M. M., Bieling, P. J., Cox, B. J., Enns, M. W., & Swinson, R. P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in clinical groups and a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 10(2), 176–181. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.10.2.176 

• Brown, T. A., Chorpita, B. F., Korotitsch, W., & Barlow, D. H. (1997). Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) in clinical samples. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35(1), 79–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0005-7967(96)00068-x 

• Depression anxiety stress scales - youth version (DASS-Y). (n.d.). NovoPsych. https://novopsych.com/assessments/child/depression-anxiety-stress-scale-youth-version-dass-y/ 

• Depression anxiety stress scales - long form (DASS-42). (n.d.). NovoPsych. https://novopsych.com/assessments/depression/depression-anxiety-stress-scales-long-form-dass-42/ 

• Psychological Foundation of Australia. (2025, January 9). Depression anxiety stress scales (DASS): Overview of the DASS and its uses. Retrieved May 6, 2025 from, https://www2.psy.unsw.edu.au/dass/ 

• Shirley Ryan Ability Lab. (2013, December 11). Depression anxiety stress scale. https://www.sralab.org/rehabilitation-measures/depression-anxiety-stress-scale 

• Szabo, M., & Lovibond, P. F. (2022). Development and Psychometric Properties of the DASS-Youth (DASS-Y): An Extension of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) to Adolescents and Children. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 766890. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.766890