Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)
The K10 is an established ten-item self-report measure of nonspecific psychological distress. It asks how often a group of feelings occurred during the past 30 days and produces a published score from 0 to 40. It does not provide a diagnosis.
- Scientific name
- Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)
- Primary reference
- Kessler RC, Barker PR, Colpe LJ, et al. Screening for Serious Mental Illness in the General Population. Archives of General Psychiatry. 2003;60(2):184–189. Open publication
- Time
- 3 min
- Length
- 10 questions
- Cost
- Free basic result
- Age
- Adults 18+
What this covers
- Psychological distress
- Frequency of the ten feelings included in the K10 during the past 30 days.
Who it is for
Adults who want a structured view of how often they experienced general emotional distress during the past month.
What your result can show
The ten responses are summed to a score from 0 to 40. A higher score means the listed feelings were reported more frequently. NuraCheck does not apply a diagnostic cutoff.
Important limitations
The K10 describes nonspecific distress and cannot identify its cause. Physical health, circumstances and many different psychological experiences can affect the score.
A higher score does not establish a diagnosis. A lower score does not show that a condition is absent.
Evidence and permission
K10 © Ronald C. Kessler, PhD. All rights reserved. Used under the author's published free-use terms.
Your answers and result stay on this device. After completion, you can separately choose to upload derived scores for a private link that expires after 180 days.