Quick 6-item check-in for psychological distress over the past 30 days.

  • Answer every item using the same 30-day window so the total stays comparable from start to finish.
  • Results keep the standard 0 to 24 K6 total alongside the 5+ watch range and the common 13+ serious-distress cutoff.
  • Your responses stay in this browser unless you export them or share a URL with the encoded answer state.
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Distress charts
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What this screening snapshot suggests

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These visuals are descriptive only. Formal interpretation still comes from the 0-24 total, the 5+ elevated-distress watch range used here, and the common 13+ serious-distress cutoff.

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Threshold guide
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Answer review
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Tags: Diagnostics, Psychology, Psychometrics
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Recent psychological distress is often noticed first as a pattern rather than a diagnosis. A person may feel nervous most days, lose hope, have trouble sitting still, feel unable to brighten after a low mood, find ordinary tasks exhausting, or feel worthless. The Kessler 6, or K6, focuses on six of those experiences and asks how often they happened during the past 30 days.

The K6 is a brief screening scale for nonspecific psychological distress. "Nonspecific" is important because the score does not identify whether the cause is anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, sleep loss, medical illness, substance effects, unsafe conditions, or a short-term crisis. It gives a compact signal that can support follow-up, survey reporting, or a clearer conversation about the recent month.

Recall period
The past 30 days. A score from today, the worst week, or a usual month is not the same measure.
Item score
Each response is coded from 0 for None of the time to 4 for All of the time.
Raw total
The six item scores are added directly, producing a 0 to 24 total.
Cutoff
A score boundary used to flag a possible level of distress. It is a prompt for follow-up, not a diagnosis.

The short format is the main strength and the main limit. Six questions are easier to complete than a long questionnaire, and the result is simple to repeat. At the same time, the K6 cannot ask about every symptom, risk factor, life event, or functional problem that may explain the answer pattern. A total of 13 or higher is commonly used as a serious-distress cutoff, while a 5-point threshold can flag moderate distress that may still affect treatment need, impairment, or support planning.

K6 score ranges and cutoff markers A 0 to 24 K6 score bar with lower, elevated, and serious range segments plus 5 and 13 cutoff markers. K6 totals are read against 5+ and 13+ markers Six 0 to 4 item scores sum to a 0 to 24 total; cutoffs are screening signals, not diagnoses. 0 to 4 Lower 5 to 12 Elevated 13 to 24 Serious range 0 5 13 24 5+ watch 13+ cutoff

A K6 total should be read with the item pattern. One score of 12 can come from several feelings that were present some of the time, while another score of 12 can come from one feeling marked all of the time and several low answers. Those patterns do not mean the same thing in a support conversation.

A low total does not rule out a serious situation. The K6 does not ask directly about self-harm, psychosis, mania, substance withdrawal, domestic violence, or immediate safety. Those concerns need direct help regardless of the score.

How to Use This Tool:

Use one past-30-days frame for all six answers. The total, cutoffs, high-intensity count, and strongest item only make sense when every item refers to the same month.

  1. Select Begin Assessment to open the six K6 questions.
  2. For each item, choose the closest frequency from None of the time through All of the time. The choices become item scores from 0 to 4.
  3. Use the progress label and question navigator to find any item without a completed marker. The result appears only after all six responses are valid.
  4. Start with the Distress snapshot total out of 24, then read Threshold status, High-intensity items, Average item score, and Strongest item.
  5. Use the Threshold guide to confirm whether the total is in the Lower, Elevated, or Serious range band.
  6. Compare the K6 Threshold Gauge with the Item Frequency Radar. The gauge shows the total on the 0 to 24 scale; the radar shows which item scores are driving it.
  7. Open Answer review if one response looks wrong. Correcting the answer updates the total, cutoffs, focus rows, charts, copied link, and exports.

Interpreting Results:

The K6 total is a recent distress burden score. Higher scores mean the six feelings were reported more often during the past 30 days. The result does not identify the cause of distress, and it does not measure functioning unless the answers are considered alongside sleep, work, school, relationships, caregiving, and safety.

Result cue What it can suggest What to verify
0 to 4 lower range The total is below the 5+ watch range and below the 13+ serious-distress cutoff. Check item scores and real-life functioning if the month still felt clearly impaired.
5 to 12 elevated range The total reaches the elevated-distress watch range but remains below the serious cutoff. Review the strongest item and any high-intensity answers before treating the score as minor.
13 to 24 serious range The total reaches the common serious psychological distress cutoff used in public-health reporting. Use the answer table for a prompt conversation with a clinician, counselor, or other qualified professional.
High-intensity items One or more feelings were present most or all of the time. Read the exact wording, especially for hopelessness, depressed mood, effort, and worthlessness.

A score of 13 or higher is a strong screening signal, not a clinical diagnosis. A score below 13 can still matter when one item is severe, when the total has climbed since a previous check, or when daily functioning has narrowed.

The most useful verification step is to read the strongest item and high-intensity count beside the total. A broad pattern across several items may call for a different conversation than one concentrated item with the same score.

Technical Details:

The K6 is a six-item frequency scale for nonspecific psychological distress. The six items cover nervousness, hopelessness, restlessness or fidgetiness, depressed mood that could not be cheered, effort, and worthlessness. The score is unidirectional: more frequent distress receives more points.

The scoring used here is the common 0 to 24 K6 form. It has no reverse-scored items, no weights, no branching items, and no separate subscales. The descriptive charts reuse the same six item scores rather than introducing a different measurement model.

Formula Core

The raw total is the sum of the six item scores:

T = ∑ i=1 6 xi
Scoring part Rule Effect on the result
Item scale 0 = None of the time, 1 = A little of the time, 2 = Some of the time, 3 = Most of the time, 4 = All of the time. Each answer contributes between 0 and 4 points.
Items included Nervous, Hopeless, Restless or fidgety, Depressed and not cheered up, Everything was an effort, Worthless. All six items contribute to one raw total.
Total range Six item scores are added directly. The minimum is 0 and the maximum is 24.
High-intensity item An item score of 3 or 4. The item was reported most or all of the time.

A response pattern of 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, and 0 gives a total of 9. That score is in the elevated range because it is at least 5 and below 13.

Contribution and Thresholds

The item contribution shown in the answer table is a rounded share of the total. If the total is zero, each contribution is shown as 0 percent.

pi = round ( 100⁢xi T )
Band Lower bound Upper bound Boundary rule Interpretation
Lower 0 4 Total is less than 5. Below the 5+ watch range and below the 13+ serious-distress cutoff.
Elevated 5 12 Total is at least 5 and less than 13. Elevated distress that may warrant closer attention even though it is below the serious range.
Serious range 13 24 Total is at least 13. At or above the common cutoff used for serious psychological distress in public-health reporting.

The threshold gauge and item frequency radar are descriptive views of the same data. The gauge places the total on the 0 to 24 scale, and the radar keeps each item on its 0 to 4 scale. The raw total, threshold band, high-intensity item count, and exact item responses remain the values to verify.

Limitations and Privacy:

The K6 is useful because it is brief, but its brevity leaves important questions outside the score. It screens for distress burden and does not identify a diagnosis, cause, risk level, treatment plan, or crisis need.

  • Self-report can be affected by recall bias, recent crises, sleep loss, physical illness, medication effects, substance use, culture, language, and willingness to disclose distress.
  • Changing the recall period to today, the worst week, or a usual month makes repeated scores harder to compare.
  • Routine scoring happens in the browser. Shared result links, copied rows, and downloaded answer records can still disclose sensitive mental-health information.
  • The K6 does not ask directly about self-harm, psychosis, mania, substance withdrawal, domestic violence, or immediate safety. Those concerns need direct support regardless of the total.

Worked Examples:

Quiet month with a low total

A person answers 1 for nervous, 0 for hopeless, 1 for restless or fidgety, 0 for depressed and not cheered up, 1 for everything was an effort, and 0 for worthless. The total is 3/24, the threshold status is lower range, and high-intensity items is 0/6.

Elevated total driven by one item

Answers of 1, 0, 1, 0, 4, and 2 produce an 8/24 total. The score is elevated, and the strongest item is Everything was an effort. Because one item contributes about half the total, the answer table is more useful than the overall number alone.

One point changes the cutoff

A total of 12/24 remains elevated but below the serious range. If one item is corrected from Some of the time to Most of the time, the total becomes 13/24 and the threshold status changes to serious range.

Result missing after five answers

If the progress label reads 5/6 answered, the distress snapshot is not ready. The unanswered item in the navigator must be completed before the total, threshold guide, focus rows, charts, and answer review appear.

FAQ:

Does the K6 diagnose serious mental illness?

No. A total of 13 or higher is a common screening cutoff for serious psychological distress, but diagnosis requires fuller assessment by a qualified professional.

Why does the result use a 5-point watch range?

A 5+ threshold has been studied as a way to identify moderate distress below the 13+ serious-distress cutoff. It helps separate a very low score from a month that may still need attention.

Can one severe answer matter if the total is below 13?

Yes. An item marked Most of the time or All of the time can be important, especially if it affects functioning, coping, or safety.

Why is my K6 total different from a 6 to 30 score?

Some Kessler scoring forms code the five choices as 1 to 5. This screener uses 0 to 4 coding, so six items sum to a 0 to 24 total.

Are answers sent away for scoring?

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

Glossary:

K6
A six-item Kessler screen for recent nonspecific psychological distress.
Nonspecific psychological distress
A broad distress signal that does not name one diagnosis or cause.
Raw total
The sum of the six 0 to 4 item scores, from 0 to 24.
5+ watch range
The elevated range used here for totals from 5 to 12.
13+ serious-distress cutoff
The common public-health cutoff for serious psychological distress on the 0 to 24 K6 scale.

References: