Kessler Psychological Distress Scale K6

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Last Modified: January 27, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script implements the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale K6. The implemented procedure is based on:

References

Kessler, R.C., Barker, P.R., Colpe, L.J., Epstein, J.F., Gfroerer, J.C., Hiripi, E., Howes, M.J, Normand, S-L.T., Manderscheid, R.W., Walters, E.E., Zaslavsky, A.M. (2003). Screening for serious mental illness in the general population Archives of General Psychiatry. 60(2), 184-189

https://www.hcp.med.harvard.edu/ncs/k6_scales.php

Duration

1.5 minutes

Overview

Scored question: Question1 with 6 5-point Likert questions scored on scale 0-4
several additional questions that do not contribute to the total score

Scoring

The scored questions in this survey are q1a-q1f. The additional questions do not contribute to scoring.

Summary Data

File Name: k6_summary.iqdat' (Inquisit Lab: one data file per participant)

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
k6TotalScore The sum of questions q1a-q1f (scored on scale 0 'none of the time' to 4 'all of the time)
Range: 0-24

Raw Data

File Name: k6.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject, group, session With the current subject/groupnumber/session id
build Inquisit version number
q*_response Response given (in assigned values)
Scale: q1a-q1f (the main 6 questions) are scored on a scale 0 (none of the time) - 4 (all of the time)
q2: 1 ('more often than usual: a lot') to 7 ('less often than usual: a lot')
q3-q4: number of days
q5: number of times
q6: 1 ('all of the time') to 5 ('none of the time)
NO reversed scored questions
q*_latency How much time (in ms) the participant spent on the surveyPage with this particular
question (the last time this particular surveyPage was visited)