Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21)

What is the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21)?

Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Three emotional states that most, if not all, people experience at certain points in their life. Some, unfortunately, experience all three at the same time, to varying degrees.

For psychologists and adjacent practitioners, a nifty tool was developed by S.H. Lovibond and P.F. Lovibond to help them assess their clients who experience all three, and it’s aptly named the “ (DASS-21).”

This particular scale consists of twenty-one items. Each one corresponds to one of the three emotions (they are marked by “d,” “a,” and “s” respectively), making it seven items per emotion.

This scale is used to assess the kinds of things that people experience in relation to those three emotions, like self-deprecation, hopelessness, paranoia, being easily irritable or agitated, etc. It also assigns corresponding numbers based on the total scores per emotion in order to see if the levels of these emotions are normal, mild, moderate, severe, or extremely severe.

How to use the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21):

Have your client answer the assessment!

‍

Using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale is extremely easy. On the part of the psychologist, they just have to issue this to their client. On the part of the client, they just need to think about how each item applies to them over the past week, and then rate each one between 0-3.

‍

Here’s how the rating scale goes:

‍

• 0 = did not apply to me at all
• 1 = applied to me to some degree or some of the time
• 2 = applied to me to a considerable degree or a good part of the time
• 3 = applied to me very much or most of the time

Tally the scores after receiving a fully-accomplished scale!

‍

Once you receive a fully-accomplished scale from your client, all you need to do is to tally the scores for the three emotions.

‍

Here are the severity designations per score range for all three:

Create a treatment plan for your client.

Once you’ve totaled the scores for all three emotions, you should be able to determine the level of each via the table above. The level that each total score falls under should help you determine what goes into the treatment plan you’re going to make for them. Do they need medicine? Do they need to try certain things? Do they need a change in environment? The answers to your questions might be shaped by the results.

Who can use the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21)?

The following healthcare practitioners can use the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) for their respective practices:

‍

• (Clinical) psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Psychometricians
• (Mental health) therapists
• Counselors

‍

Their clients will be engaging with the scale the most since they will be rating themselves based on each item.

Why is this scale popular and useful for psychologists and adjacent practitioners?

It’s easy to use and has clear designations.

The scale is clear to the point that both the healthcare practitioner and client don’t need to fret about it. The client simply needs to look at themselves based on the prompts and how it applies to them over the past week. There are score ranges and designations for the healthcare practitioner’s benefit, so they don’t have to mull over whether a certain score means “really bad” or “mild.”

It’ll help the practitioner make decisions for their treatment plans!

Given that there are score ranges and corresponding designations for each emotion, there is a semblance of objectivity as to how severe the levels of the client’s depression, anxiety, and stress are. This should help you decide what goes into the treatment plan you’re going to make for your client.

You can reissue this scale for monitoring purposes!

Using this scale doesn’t have to be a one-off thing. Since working through depression, anxiety, and stress doesn’t happen overnight, it might be best to check if your client is making progress. To do that, you may reissue this scale to them. The same rules apply the second time around and onward.

What are the benefits of using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21)?

It might inspire clients to work through these emotions.

Scales and assessments often have clients reflect on themselves before they rate themselves or do whatever is being asked of them by an assessment. Doing so will make them more aware of what their problems are. While it’s not guaranteed that they will be inspired to power through them, being aware is half the battle. They will at least know what aspects of their life need focus in order to work through their emotions.

It can determine if a treatment plan is working or not.

Earlier, we stated that reissuing this is a good way to monitor your client to check if there are any improvements or if things are getting worse.

‍

The same can be said for your treatment plan. Reissuing this every now and then is a good way for you to know if your treatment plan is actually working or if it needs some tweaking.