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Share result

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

Severity dial
Symptom factor map
What this result suggests

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Cutoff and guide context

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Higher and lower scored items
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Highest current distress items

These are the most frequently endorsed prompts in this run. Start here before treating every item as equally urgent.

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Factor detail

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These grouped factors help explain where distress is concentrating. The validated primary output remains the total K10 score.

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Answer review
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Tags: Diagnostics, Psychology, Psychometrics
Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) Screener Screen recent psychological distress with six K6 questions, 5+ and 13+ cutoffs, item drivers, charts, and in-browser scoring.
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT-C) Score AUDIT-C alcohol screening answers, compare 3+, 4+, VA/DoD 5+, and 8+ reference lines, and review the strongest item cue.
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.
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.
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A month of psychological distress can be hard to summarize because the signs rarely arrive in one neat category. Nervousness, agitation, tiredness, hopelessness, low mood, and feeling worthless may rise together, appear in waves, or cluster around one difficult situation. The Kessler 10, or K10, turns that recent pattern into a short frequency score so a person can describe how often these experiences have been present across the last 4 weeks.

The K10 is best understood as a nonspecific distress measure. It does not ask whether distress came from depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, physical illness, medication effects, substance use, unsafe conditions, or a temporary crisis. It asks how often ten common distress experiences were present. That is useful for screening and follow-up because people often know that they feel worse before they can name why.

Recall window
The last 4 weeks. A score from a bad day, a usual month, or a worst month answers a different question.
Frequency answer
Each item is rated from None of the time to All of the time, then converted to a 1 to 5 item score.
Raw total
Ten item scores are added, so the K10 total runs from 10 to 50.
Band guide
A threshold table that labels the raw total. Different published guides can give the same score a different label.

Screening scores are most useful when they make a vague concern easier to discuss. A rising K10 total can support a decision to book an appointment, bring a clearer symptom summary to a clinician, check whether stress is spreading across more parts of life, or compare later check-ins under the same conditions. A lower total can be reassuring, but it should not silence a serious item such as hopelessness or worthlessness if that feeling is intense or persistent.

K10 score bands compared across two guides A 10 to 50 score scale showing the common four-band guide and Australian population guide with different boundaries. K10 totals need the guide name beside the label The raw score stays fixed, but published interpretation bands can move around it. Common four-band guide 10-19 Low 20-24 Mild 25-29 Moderate 30-50 Severe Australian population guide 10-15 Low 16-21 Moderate 22-29 High 30-50 Very high

One common mistake is to treat the band label as more precise than the score. A K10 total of 22 is not a different lived experience just because one guide calls it mild and another calls it high. The raw total, the guide used, and the individual item pattern should stay together whenever the result is shared.

K10 can help with K10 cannot settle by itself
Turning recent distress into a repeatable 10 to 50 summary. Diagnosing depression, anxiety, trauma, substance effects, or a medical cause.
Spotting whether distress is broad or concentrated in a few high-frequency items. Deciding safety, treatment, medication, work capacity, or leave needs from the total alone.
Comparing repeated check-ins when the same 4-week frame and band guide are used. Comparing labels across different scoring guides without checking the raw score.

How to Use This Tool:

Answer from one consistent last-4-weeks frame. The result becomes more useful when the total, band comparison, high items, and factor map are read together instead of as separate verdicts.

  1. Choose Begin Assessment and keep the same last-4-weeks period in mind for every item.
  2. Select the closest frequency for each question: None of the time, A little of the time, Some of the time, Most of the time, or All of the time.
  3. Use the progress bar and item navigator to find unanswered questions. A valid score needs all 10 items completed, including items filled by the dependent-item rule.
  4. If item 2 is marked None of the time, item 3 is scored as None of the time. If item 5 is marked None of the time, item 6 is scored the same way. Change the parent item first if the follow-up does not match the month.
  5. Read the Distress snapshot total out of 50 with the selected common guide band, then check the comparison against the Australian population guide.
  6. Review Severity dial, Symptom factor map, Top factor, High items, and the answer review before copying, downloading, or sharing the result.
  7. Correct any answer from the answer review. The total, bands, support cue, charts, copied link, and exports update from the revised response pattern.

If the score or any single item points to distress that feels unsafe, urgent, or hard to cope with, use real-world support immediately rather than waiting for another self-check.

Interpreting Results:

The headline number is the K10 raw total out of 50. Higher totals mean the listed distress experiences were reported more often during the last 4 weeks. The label beside the number is a screening guide, not a diagnosis, and it should not be separated from the raw score or the guide name.

  • Distress snapshot: the current 10 to 50 total and selected common guide band.
  • Cutoff and guide context: whether the common four-band guide and Australian population guide classify the same raw total differently.
  • Top factor: the descriptive item group with the highest relative load.
  • High items: questions answered at Most of the time or All of the time.
  • Support cue: a practical prompt based on the band, high-item count, and high-frequency concerning items.

A low or mild total can still deserve attention when hopelessness, sadness that nothing could cheer up, or worthlessness is marked at the highest frequency. Those items should be read as item-level warning signs, especially if sleep, work, study, relationships, caregiving, or basic routines are narrowing.

Repeated scores are most comparable when the same person uses the same item wording, last-4-weeks frame, and band guide. A change of a few points can reflect a real shift, but it can also reflect recall differences, a better or worse week inside the month, or a different willingness to endorse symptoms.

Technical Details:

K10 scoring is additive. The ten items use the same frequency response scale, and each response contributes 1 to 5 points. The measure is usually interpreted as nonspecific psychological distress in the anxiety-depression spectrum, not as separate diagnostic subscales for anxiety, depression, fatigue, or agitation.

The raw total is sensitive to both breadth and intensity. One item moving from None of the time to All of the time adds 4 points, while several items moving from Some of the time to Most of the time can push the total across a band boundary. This is why the exact answer pattern matters alongside the score.

Formula Core

The K10 total is the sum of the 10 item scores after the dependent-item rule has been applied.

K10 = ∑ i=1 10 xi
Symbol or quantity Meaning Range or rule
x One frequency response after the dependent-item rule is applied. 1 to 5
K10 Raw psychological distress total across all ten items. 10 to 50
High-intensity item An item answered Most of the time or All of the time. 4 or 5

A response pattern that sums to 27 is in the moderate band under the common four-band guide and in the high band under the Australian population guide. The arithmetic has not changed; only the interpretation guide has.

Dependent-Item Rule

Two stronger follow-up items depend on their parent items. The rule prevents a stronger symptom from being scored as present when the broader parent symptom was marked absent.

Parent item Follow-up item Rule when parent is none of the time
Nervous So nervous that nothing could calm you down The follow-up is scored as 1.
Restless or fidgety So restless that you could not sit still The follow-up is scored as 1.

Band Guides

Guide Band Inclusive score range Reading
Common four-band Low 10 to 19 Lower recent distress by this guide.
Common four-band Mild 20 to 24 Some recent distress symptoms are present.
Common four-band Moderate 25 to 29 Distress is frequent enough to justify closer review.
Common four-band Severe 30 to 50 Heavy recent distress on this screener.
Australian population Low 10 to 15 Lower distress by that population guide.
Australian population Moderate 16 to 21 Middle population band.
Australian population High 22 to 29 High psychological distress by that guide.
Australian population Very high 30 to 50 Very high psychological distress by that guide.

Factor Load and Support Flags

The factor map is descriptive rather than a set of validated subscale scores. Each group converts item scores above the minimum into a percent of that group's possible excess load.

Output Items How it is read
Nervousness 2, 3 General nervousness plus the stronger nothing-could-calm-you follow-up.
Agitation 5, 6 Restlessness plus the stronger could-not-sit-still follow-up.
Low mood 4, 7, 9, 10 Hopelessness, depressed mood, sadness that nothing could cheer, and worthlessness.
Fatigue and effort 1, 8 Tiredness without a clear reason and everything-feels-like-effort items.
Prompt support flag 4, 9, 10 Raised when hopelessness, inability to cheer up, or worthlessness is marked all of the time.

Relative load rule:

relative load = sum(max(0, item score - 1)) / (number of items x 4) x 100

Limitations and Privacy:

K10 is a screening measure for recent psychological distress. It does not explain the cause of distress, separate temporary stress from a mental disorder, or replace assessment by a qualified professional. Physical illness, sleep disruption, grief, trauma reminders, substance use, unsafe environments, and medication changes can all affect the answers.

  • Use the last 4 weeks consistently; changing the recall window makes repeated totals hard to compare.
  • Band labels are guide-dependent. Share the raw score and guide name together.
  • Routine scoring happens in the browser. Shared links, copied rows, and downloaded reports can still reveal sensitive mental-health answers.
  • The K10 does not directly assess self-harm, psychosis, mania, substance withdrawal, domestic violence, or immediate safety. Those concerns need direct support regardless of score.

Worked Examples:

Low total with one item to watch

A person answers mostly 1s and 2s, with worthlessness marked Most of the time. The K10 total may still sit in a low or mild band, but the answer review and support cue make the high item visible. The item should be discussed directly if it affects safety, functioning, or coping.

Same score, different guide label

A total of 22 is mild under the common four-band guide and high under the Australian population guide. The score itself is still 22/50. The difference means the selected guide is part of the interpretation.

Branching prevents a contradiction

If Nervous is answered None of the time, the stronger item about being so nervous that nothing could calm you is scored the same way. If nervousness is changed later, the follow-up can be answered directly.

Broad distress across several areas

A total of 31 with several 4s and 5s across nervousness, low mood, and effort lands in the top common band. The factor map helps show whether one area is dominant, but the raw K10 total and high-item list remain the main values to share.

FAQ:

Does a high K10 score diagnose anxiety or depression?

No. A high score is a screening signal for recent nonspecific psychological distress. Diagnosis needs fuller assessment and context.

Why are there two band guides?

Different health and survey contexts use different cutoffs. Showing both guides helps keep the raw total visible instead of reducing the result to one label.

Why are items 3 and 6 sometimes filled automatically?

They are stronger follow-ups to nervousness and restlessness. When the parent symptom is absent, the follow-up is scored as absent too.

Can I compare this result with a later score?

Yes, if the same person uses the same last-4-weeks frame, response style, and interpretation guide. Large life changes or different recall habits can affect comparability.

Are answers sent away for scoring?

Routine scoring happens in the browser. Sharing a result link, copying rows, or downloading reports can disclose the answer pattern, so handle outputs like private health notes.

Glossary:

K10
The 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale.
Nonspecific psychological distress
A broad distress signal covering anxious, depressive, agitation, fatigue, and effort-related experiences without naming one diagnosis.
Raw total
The sum of the ten item scores after dependent-item scoring, from 10 to 50.
Band guide
The threshold system used to label a raw score.
High-intensity item
An answer of Most of the time or All of the time.

References: