Symptom Checklist-6 (SCL-6) &
Symptom Checklist-10R (SCL-10R)

Instrument Description:

The Symptom Checklist-6 (SCL-6) and the Symptom Checklist-10R (SCL-10R) provide data on distress that is comparable to the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) General Severity Index (GSI) or overall average score. The SCL_90 and the SCL-90R are well-validated measures of general psychological distress; however, the length of these measures makes them impractical for routine use in many applied settings (Rosen, 2000). The SL-6 and the SCL-10R were developed to provide brief measures of psychological distress that can be used with heterogeneous clinical populations.

The SCL-6 is composed of two items each from the SCL90 depression, anxiety, and psychoticism sub-scales, representing the primary distress factor.

The SCL-10R was developed to more broadly represent both primary and secondary factors of the SCL-90. Items from each of the original nine subscales of the SCL-90 were included. The SCL-10R contains six primary factor items and four additional items to included secondary factors of somatization, phobic avoidance, hostility and paranoia.

These concise measures can be administered in non-research settings to monitor patient progress, evaluate program effectiveness, or compare distress in different patient populations.

Instrument Development: Craig Rosen, Ph.D., Kent Dreschler, Ph.D., Rudolf Moos, Ph.D., John Finney, Ph.D., Ronald Murphy, Ph.D., Fred Gusman, MSW

Research Contact: Craig Rosen, Ph.D.

Instrument Availability:

Instrument

References:

Rosen,C., Dreschler, K., Moos, R., Finney, J., Murphy, R., Gusman, F. (2000). Six and Ten Item Indices of Psychological Distress Based on the Symptom Checklist-90. Assessment, 7, 103-111.