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Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)3

Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) Test

Designed for a concise overview of psychiatric symptoms, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) Test contains 18 questions and takes about 4 minutes. Its profile highlights areas such as mood, anxiety, thought disturbance, activity, and interpersonal tension, helping users understand symptom patterns and overall severity.

Questions: 184 minutes

Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale: test ticket with numbers

October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published

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Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Excitement / TensionE/T

Measures the degree of internal anxiety, irritability, and psychomotor agitation reflected in observable tension and motor activity.

example score13/21

13/21Moderateexample score

3 – 8Low

9 – 14Moderate

15 – 21High

A score of 13 falls in the Moderate range, indicating noticeable but not extreme tension and agitation at the time of assessment.

Suspiciousness/HostilityS

Assesses the severity of distrust, hostility, and potential for conflictual or aggressive attitudes toward others.

example score10/21

10/21Moderateexample score

3 – 8Low

9 – 14Moderate

15 – 21High

A score of 10 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting noticeable suspiciousness or hostility that may affect interactions but is not at the highest severity level.

Apathy and Psychomotor RetardationAaPR

Assesses the severity of reduced motivation and activity and slowing of thinking and behavior (apathy/psychomotor retardation).

example score12/28

12/28Moderateexample score

4 – 11Low

12 – 19Moderate

20 – 28High

A score of 12 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting noticeable but not severe apathy and slowing at the time of assessment.

Thought DisorderTD

Assesses the severity of disordered thinking such as illogicality, incoherence, and delusional ideas.

example score21/28

21/28Highexample score

4 – 11Low

12 – 19Moderate

20 – 28High

A score of 21 falls in the High range, indicating marked thought disturbance that may be prominent at the time of assessment.

Anxious DepressionAD

Measures the severity of combined anxiety and depressive symptoms.

example score16/28

16/28Moderateexample score

4 – 12Low

13 – 20Moderate

21 – 28High

A score of 16 falls in the Moderate range, indicating a mid-level severity of anxious and depressive symptoms at the time of assessment.

Total ScoreTS

The BPRS Total Score quantifies the overall severity of current psychopathological symptoms in adults with acute psychiatric presentations.

example score82/126

82/126High severityexample score

19 – 39Low severity

40 – 60Moderate severity

61 – 126High severity

A total score of 82 falls in the High severity range, indicating pronounced current symptom severity relative to the scale.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Inpatient psychiatry clinicians

46%OF USERS

Psychiatrists and ward clinicians use it to quickly rate symptom severity in adults admitted with acute psychosis and to track response to treatment.

Emergency mental health teams

32%OF USERS

Crisis and ER staff use it during urgent evaluations to document current psychotic symptoms and support triage and immediate care decisions.

Outpatient follow-up providers

22%OF USERS

Community psychiatrists and clinic teams use it at follow-up visits to monitor changes in hallucinations, paranoia, mood, and anxiety over time.

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.

Shaded area — where most people score

Dot — the average

You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test

Arousal / tensionA/t

You?

Average9.5

Typical rangeTypical6.4 – 12.6

Possible3 – 21

Suspiciousness, HostilitySH

You?

Average13.6

Typical rangeTypical10.7 – 16.5

Possible3 – 21

Apathy, sluggishnessAs

You?

Average14.9

Typical rangeTypical10.9 – 18.9

Possible4 – 28

Thinking DisordersTD

You?

Average16.5

Typical rangeTypical13.3 – 19.6

Possible4 – 28

Anxious DepressionAD

You?

Average17.4

Typical rangeTypical13.4 – 21.4

Possible4 – 28

Total ScoreTS

You?

Average70.3

Typical rangeTypical50.6 – 90.1

Possible19 – 126

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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.

These are 3 of the 18 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) Test - Description and methodology of the test

psychopathology

schizophrenia

For people who want to compare how different symptoms are described, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) Test organizes judgments about mood, anxiety, thinking, activity, perception, and contact with others. Relative prominence across symptom domains can be compared through the BPRS assessment in an online response format when considering personal answers.

What This Assessment Measures

Across its items, the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale questionnaire samples emotional, cognitive, perceptual, behavioral, and interpersonal symptoms rather than one complaint. It suits readers wanting a structured profile of which areas appear more prominent.

These are the displayed dimensions:

Suspiciousness/Hostility (3-21) measures distrust and aggression; Low 3-8, Moderate 9-14, High 15-21.
Excitement / Tension (3-21) measures restlessness, irritability, and motor activity; Low 3-8, Moderate 9-14, High 15-21.
Apathy and Psychomotor Retardation (4-28) measures reduced activity, indifference, and slowed thinking; Low 4-11, Moderate 12-19, High 20-28.
Thought Disorder (4-28) measures disordered thinking and delusional ideas; Low 4-11, Moderate 12-19, High 20-28.
Anxious Depression (4-28) measures anxiety and depressive symptoms; Low 4-12, Moderate 13-20, High 21-28.
Total Score (19-126) measures overall psychopathological severity; Low severity 19-39, Moderate severity 40-60, High severity 61-126.

Methodology and Evidence Base

Each item presents a symptom or observable behavior with seven anchored severity choices, from absent or not present to extreme. Some anchors specify whether rating should rely on the person’s report or on observed speech, movement, affect, or cooperation. In this online format, the respondent selects the description that best matches.

The online result reports domain scores and a total score. Its source instrument is Overall and Gorham’s BPRS, a clinician-rated measure; this online questionnaire is conceptually consistent with that instrument but does not reproduce its trained clinician-rated administration or claim to be a validated adaptation. Bech, Larsen, and Andersen examined psychometric developments in BPRS work.

Shafer’s meta-analysis reported recurring positive symptoms, negative symptoms, affect, activation, and disorganization factors, with variation in factor structure. Those findings provide context for BPRS content but do not validate these specific online groupings or the displayed result bands.

No population norms or online validation have been established for this presentation, so the displayed ranges are catalogue bands rather than standardized population norms; current context, self-awareness, response bias, and differing interpretations of the anchors can affect BPRS score interpretation.

Author: Donald R. Gorham, John E. Overall

Literature:

Overall, J. E., & Gorham, D. R. (1962). The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. Psychological Reports, 10(3), 799-812. 10.2466/pr0.1962.10.3.799
Bech, P., Larsen, J. K., & Andersen, J. (1988). The BPRS: Psychometric developments. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 24(1), 118-121.
Shafer, A. (2005). Meta-analysis of the brief psychiatric rating scale factor structure. Psychological Assessment, 17(3), 324-335. 10.1037/1040-3590.17.3.324

Updated: 2025-10-02