Quick 42-item check-in for depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms over the past week.

  • Answer every question. Your first reaction is usually best.
  • Your responses stay only in this browser unless you export them.
  • The three DASS subscales remain the official reading. The raw total is for same-person monitoring only.
{{ progressPercent }}%
{{ uxProgressLabel }}
  • {{ question.id }}. {{ question.text }}
{{ card.label }}
{{ card.value }}
{{ card.note }}
Share result

Share this result page with someone you trust to review your answers and result.

Subscale lane map

{{ briefLead }}

  • {{ point }}
Recommended next steps
  1. {{ step }}
Snapshot context
  • {{ fact }}

{{ supportNote }}

Most endorsed items

These answers currently carry the most weight in the profile. Use them to keep follow-up concrete instead of relying on the headline score alone.

{{ item.label }}
{{ item.domainLabel }}
{{ item.scoreLabel }}

{{ item.actionHint }}

Official subscale lanes
Scale Score Lane Reading Copy
{{ row.label }} {{ row.scoreLabel }} {{ row.band }} {{ row.note }}
Official dASS-42 cutoff matrix
Scale Normal Mild Moderate Severe Extremely severe Current Copy
{{ row.label }} {{ cell.range }} {{ row.currentBand }}

These are the official DASS-42 subscale cutoffs. Because this tool uses the full 42-item form, the displayed subscale scores are direct DASS-42 totals and are not doubled. The 0 to 126 raw total is not an official DASS severity scale.

Response intensity mix
{{ domain.label }}
{{ domain.band }} ยท {{ domain.score }}/42
{{ domain.percent }}% of scale max

{{ domain.description }}

{{ domain.contextText }}

Higher-scored cues: {{ domain.focusText }}

Lower-scored anchors: {{ domain.anchorText }}

Answer review
# Domain Item Response Score Copy
{{ row.id }} {{ row.domainLabel }} {{ row.text }} {{ row.answer }} {{ row.score }}
Tags: Psychology, Psychometrics
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) Assessment Complete a DASS-21 past-week symptom screen with doubled subscale bands, highest-pressure item cues, cutoff context, and follow-up notes.
Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) Assessment Score the 21-item BAI for past-week anxiety symptoms, review severity bands, the 16+ cue, symptom mix, high items, and prior-score change.
Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) Score 21 BDI-II depression-symptom answers over two weeks, see severity bands, Item 9 safety context, driver items, and answer exports.
Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D-20) Screen past-week depressive symptoms with CES-D-20 scoring, cutoff context, symptom clusters, high-intensity items, and local exports.
Customize
Advanced
:

Periods of distress rarely arrive in neat categories. Low mood, fear, body arousal, irritability, and tension can all be present in the same week, but they do not always point to the same follow-up need. A single distress score can hide that difference, which is why the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales separate recent negative emotional states into depression, anxiety, and stress.

Depression, anxiety, and stress are related without being interchangeable. Depression content points toward loss of pleasure, hopelessness, reduced initiative, and self-critical thoughts. Anxiety content points toward fear, panic-like body sensations, and apprehension. Stress content points toward tension, impatience, over-reaction, and difficulty settling after demands or interruptions.

The full DASS-42 questionnaire uses 42 statements, with 14 items contributing to each area. Each answer describes how much a statement applied during the past week on a 0 to 3 severity and frequency scale. That time frame matters. A score is meant to summarize current symptom load, not a lifetime trait, a diagnosis, or a verdict about why the symptoms are happening.

Depression
Low positive feeling, hopelessness, loss of interest, self-deprecation, and reduced initiative.
Anxiety
Fear, panic-like body arousal, trembling, breathlessness, heart awareness, and apprehension.
Stress
Tension, irritability, impatience, over-reaction, nervous arousal, and difficulty winding down.

DASS scores are dimensional. Higher numbers mean more of the measured symptom content was endorsed in that week, but the result does not separate normal strain from clinical disorder by itself. A deadline-heavy week, poor sleep, pain flare, medication change, substance use, panic episode, grief, or medical illness can all shift answers. Language, culture, age, disability, and current safety concerns can also change what follow-up is appropriate.

DASS-42 scoring map from 42 responses to three 0 to 42 subscale scores and a raw 0 to 126 total

The full form is often chosen when the extra item coverage is useful. DASS-21 is a shorter related version and is commonly adjusted by doubling subscale sums for comparison with DASS-42 ranges. The full DASS-42 does not need that adjustment because each subscale already contains 14 items.

The most useful reading is the subscale pattern: which area is highest, which areas cross a severity cutoff, and which specific statements were rated often or most of the time. The raw 0 to 126 total can help compare the same person's repeat answers, but it should not replace the three Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scores.

How to Use This Tool:

Use one consistent past-week window for all answers, then read the subscale result before using charts, exports, or the raw total.

  1. Select Begin Assessment. For each statement, choose one response from Did not apply to me at all (never) to Applied to me very much, or most of the time (almost always).
  2. Watch the progress bar and the x / 42 answered count. The question navigator marks answered items with a check icon and lets you return to any earlier statement.
  3. If the result does not appear, look for a navigator row without a check mark. The Subscale snapshot and result area only appear after all 42 items have a response.
  4. Read Overall lane, Top area, Cutoff context, and Follow-up timing as a quick summary of the completed run.
  5. Use Official subscale lanes and the cutoff matrix to confirm the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress score, band, and moderate cutoff.
  6. Open Most endorsed items and Answer review when you need concrete wording for a private note, a recheck, or a conversation with a qualified professional.
  7. Use the copied result link, CSV, chart image, or DOCX export only with people or systems you trust, because these records can reveal sensitive answers.

Interpreting Results:

Start with the three official subscale bands. A Stress score in the Moderate range with Normal Depression and Anxiety suggests a different follow-up conversation than three Mild scores with the same raw total.

  • Highest subscale: use Top area and Subscale lane map to see which symptom area is carrying the most recent load.
  • Moderate-or-higher bands: Cutoff context shows whether one or more official subscales have crossed the Moderate cutoff.
  • Endorsed item count: Items rated 2-3 distinguishes a broad pattern of recent symptoms from a smaller set of intense answers.
  • Raw total: use the 0 to 126 sum for same-person monitoring only, not as an official DASS severity label.

A high score does not prove a diagnosis, and a Normal band does not rule out mental-health concerns, medical contributors, medication effects, substance effects, or immediate safety needs. A better follow-up note names the subscale score and band, the most endorsed items, and any real-world impairment such as sleep, work, study, relationships, or daily care slipping.

Technical Details:

DASS-42 scoring is additive. Each response is an integer from 0 to 3, and each item belongs to exactly one of the three subscales. There is no reverse scoring, weighting, or item averaging in the displayed subscale totals.

Severity labels are applied to each subscale separately. The depression, anxiety, and stress ranges use different cutoffs because the three scales measure different symptom content. The 0 to 126 raw total is calculated after the subscales are summed, but the tool does not assign an official severity band to that combined total.

Formula Core:

For each subscale, add the 14 response values that belong to that domain:

D = ∑i∈IDri A = ∑i∈IAri S = ∑i∈ISri Raw total = D+A+S

Here, D, A, and S are the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress totals; r is a response value from 0 to 3; and I is the set of item numbers assigned to the named subscale. If Depression sums to 14, Anxiety to 7, and Stress to 19, the raw total is 40/126. The official reading is Depression Moderate, Anxiety Normal, and Stress Moderate.

Score Item numbers Range Main content
Depression3, 5, 10, 13, 16, 17, 21, 24, 26, 31, 34, 37, 38, 420 to 42Low positive feeling, hopelessness, reduced interest, self-deprecation, and low initiative.
Anxiety2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 19, 20, 23, 25, 28, 30, 36, 40, 410 to 42Fear, panic-like arousal, trembling, breathlessness, heart awareness, and apprehension.
Stress1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 18, 22, 27, 29, 32, 33, 35, 390 to 42Tension, irritability, impatience, over-reaction, agitation, and difficulty calming down.
Raw totalDepression + Anxiety + Stress0 to 126Derived same-person monitoring aid, not an official DASS severity scale.

All score bands below are inclusive. Depression 13 remains Mild and 14 starts Moderate; Anxiety 19 remains Severe and 20 starts Extremely Severe; Stress 33 remains Severe and 34 starts Extremely Severe.

Severity band Depression Anxiety Stress
Normal0 to 90 to 70 to 14
Mild10 to 138 to 915 to 18
Moderate14 to 2010 to 1419 to 25
Severe21 to 2715 to 1926 to 33
Extremely Severe28 to 4220 to 4234 to 42

Limitations and Responsible Use:

DASS-42 is a structured self-report screen. It can organize current symptom information, but it cannot decide diagnosis, cause, risk, treatment, or urgency by itself.

  • Use the same past-week window for all answers and for any repeat comparison.
  • The questionnaire does not include direct suicide-risk items, so safety concerns need separate assessment and local emergency or crisis support when risk is immediate.
  • The DASS was developed with non-clinical samples and is best interpreted with age, language, culture, health status, and impairment in mind.
  • The scoring flow runs in the browser, but copied links and exported records can contain sensitive response information.

Worked Examples:

Stress crosses the moderate cutoff

A completed run shows Depression 6/42 Normal, Anxiety 8/42 Mild, and Stress 19/42 Moderate. The raw total is 33/126, but the important result is Stress reaching the first Moderate score. Most endorsed items should guide follow-up toward overload, irritability, and recovery time.

One answer moves Depression into Moderate

A profile first shows Depression 13/42 Mild. After checking Answer review, one Depression item is corrected from 1 to 2. Depression becomes 14/42 Moderate because 14 is the first Moderate Depression score.

The raw total stays flat while the pattern changes

A repeat run keeps Raw total at 45/126. Depression falls from 18/42 to 11/42, while Anxiety rises from 8/42 to 15/42. The total looks unchanged, but Official subscale lanes shows the conversation shifting from low mood toward stronger anxiety symptoms.

The result area is missing

The progress count reads 41 / 42 answered, and Subscale snapshot is absent. Select the navigator item without a check mark, answer it, and confirm that Official subscale lanes, Subscale lane map, Response intensity mix, and Answer review appear.

FAQ:

Is DASS-42 a diagnosis?

No. It reports past-week symptom severity for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress. Diagnosis still depends on duration, impairment, clinical interview, medical context, and separate safety assessment.

Why are there three scores instead of one?

The official DASS reading uses separate subscale totals because depression, anxiety, and stress can move differently. The tool also shows a raw total, but that total is for same-person monitoring rather than an official severity band.

Do DASS-21 doubling rules apply here?

No. This is the full 42-item form, so each subscale already has 14 items and a direct 0 to 42 total. The displayed Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scores are not doubled.

Why are the charts and tables not showing?

The result area appears only after all 42 statements have a response. Check the progress count and select any navigator row without a check mark, then answer that item.

Is it safe to share a result link?

Treat copied result links and exports as private. They can preserve response information, so review Answer review and share only with a trusted person or service.

Glossary:

DASS-42
The full 42-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales questionnaire.
Subscale
One of the three score groups: Depression, Anxiety, or Stress.
Raw total
The sum of the three subscale scores, shown from 0 to 126 for monitoring.
Severity band
A labeled score range such as Normal, Mild, Moderate, Severe, or Extremely Severe.
Response intensity mix
The count of 0, 1, 2, and 3 responses within each DASS domain.

References: