The Kessler K-10 is a short check on how much distress you have felt over the last month. Answer 10 questions to see your score, what it means, and some practical next steps.
10 questions, about two minutes.
These questions are about how you have been feeling over the last 30 days. For each one, choose how often you felt that way.
Your answers stay in your browser and are not sent to us or saved. You don’t need to give your name or email.
About this scale
The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, usually called the K-10, is a 10-question check on how much distress you have felt over the last month: nervousness, restlessness, low mood, hopelessness and fatigue. Ronald Kessler and colleagues developed it in the United States for population health surveys, and it is now used in health surveys and clinics in many countries, including New Zealand and Australia.
It doesn’t point to a particular condition. It measures how heavy things have felt, which makes it a good first check and a good way to track change over time.
Reading your score
Each answer scores from 1 (none of the time) to 5 (all of the time), so totals run from 10 to 50. The bands are the ones most often used with the K-10 (Andrews and Slade, 2001).
| Score | Result |
|---|---|
| 10–15 | Low psychological distress over the last 30 days, the range most people score in. |
| 16–21 | Moderate psychological distress over the last 30 days: more strain than usual. |
| 22–29 | High psychological distress over the last 30 days, a level where support usually helps. |
| 30–50 | Very high psychological distress over the last 30 days. |
A score describes how things have been for you recently. It can’t diagnose anything on its own, but it is a useful way to notice change and a good starting point for a conversation with a counsellor or your GP.
Source: Kessler, R. C., Andrews, G., Colpe, L. J., et al. (2002). Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychological Medicine, 32(6), 959–976.