Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) Test
Understand current psychotic symptom severity in about 4 minutes. An 18 item scale that helps spot key symptoms fast and track response to treatment over time.
08:30
Scale Explorer
How the Scales are Structured
DATA-BASED USER COHORTS
Who Usually Takes This Test?
BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.
Benchmarking
See How You Compare
Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Suspiciousness, Hostility (SH)
Suspiciousness, Hostility (SH)
Average
13.6
Normal range
10.7 — 16.5
min.
3
max.
21
This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Arousal / tension (A/t)
Arousal / tension (A/t)
Average
9.5
Normal range
6.4 — 12.6
min.
3
max.
21
This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Apathy, sluggishness (As)
Apathy, sluggishness (As)
Average
14.9
Normal range
10.9 — 18.9
min.
4
max.
28
This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Thinking Disorders (TD)
Thinking Disorders (TD)
Average
16.5
Normal range
13.3 — 19.6
min.
4
max.
28
This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Anxious Depression (AD)
Anxious Depression (AD)
Average
17.4
Normal range
13.4 — 21.4
min.
4
max.
28
This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Total Score (TS)
Total Score (TS)
Average
70.3
Normal range
50.6 — 90.1
min.
19
max.
126
This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.
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SAMPLE QUESTIONS
Example Questions From the Test
The scale is completed by a clinician based on the clinical interview and direct observation of the patient. The rating must reflect the patient’s status strictly at the time of the interview. To increase rating reliability, it is recommended that two raters conduct the assessment concurrently, independently rating all items and then either averaging their scores or discussing any item-level discrepancies and reaching a consensus rating. To evaluate treatment-related change, the assessment is typically administered prior to treatment and repeated during treatment at intervals determined by the study objectives.
- Not present: no expressed concern about physical health.
- Very mild: questionable pathology; observed signs may be within the upper limits of normal.
- Mild: noticeable concern about health or physical condition.
- Moderate: expresses thoughts of having a serious physical illness (e.g., cancer or heart disease), but these do not reach delusional intensity.
- Severe: complaints are unusual or bizarre (e.g., internal organs are rotting), but the person can be talked out of it briefly.
- Very severe: intermediate gradation.
- Extremely severe: convinced that organs have rotted or are absent, or that worms are eating the brain; cannot be talked out of it even briefly.
- Not present: the patient does not experience anxiety, a sense of undefined danger, or inner tension.
- Very mild: questionable pathology; the observed features may be at the upper limit of normal.
- Mild: the patient is somewhat anxious, tense, or apprehensive about something undefined.
- Moderate: anxiety, a sense of undefined danger, worry, or inner tension is clearly present, is difficult to control, and may affect everyday activity.
- Severe: anxiety and a sense of undefined danger at times become very pronounced and are experienced as panic; i.e., anxiety becomes out of control.
- Very severe: intermediate grade.
- Extreme: the patient is often described as panicky. The patient cannot be reassured, which markedly affects the interview.
- Not present: no disturbance of emotional contact is observed.
- Very mild: questionable pathology; the observed features may be within the upper limits of normal.
- Mild: the patient maintains some emotional distance but does not avoid looking at the interviewer.
- Moderate: emotional responses are reduced; the patient also tends to avoid eye contact with the interviewer.
- Marked: emotional contact is very limited; the patient rarely makes eye contact with the interviewer.
- Very marked: intermediate rating.
- Extreme: marked limitation or complete absence of emotional contact; the patient avoids looking at the interviewer.
WHAT THE TEST MEASURES
About This Assessment
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Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) Test - Symptoms and Signs
This measure is designed to support rapid, structured evaluation of current psychiatric symptom severity in adults. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), developed by Donald R. Gorham and John E. Overall, is commonly used in acute settings to quantify symptom intensity based on interview content and clinical observation.
The instrument includes 18 items and typically requires about 4 minutes to administer. Ratings are intended to reflect the clinician’s judgment of symptom severity at the time of assessment and are generally used to monitor change over time rather than to establish a diagnosis. In clinical practice, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) can help characterize prominent symptom domains and support treatment planning and ongoing symptom tracking.
Author: Donald R. Gorham, John E. Overall
Literature: Overall, J. E., & Gorham, D. R. The brief psychiatric rating scale. Psychological Reports. 1962.; Andreasen, N. C. Scale for the assessment of negative symptoms (SANS). University of Iowa. 1983.; Zygmunt, A., Olfson, M., Boyer, C. A., & Mechanic, D. Interventions to improve medication adherence in schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2002.
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