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Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ)3

Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) Test

Understand a child or teen’s recent mood and depression signs in about 3 minutes. Thirteen quick items give a clear first signal for next steps at school, clinic, or home.

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Questions: 133 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

30,512 views

3,530 completions

2,995 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

13/26

Depressive Symptoms Scale (DSS)

Measures the level of self-reported depressive symptoms in children and adolescents over the recent period.

Low

Clinically significant

0 – 10: Low | 11 – 26: Clinically significant

A score of 13 falls in the clinically significant range, indicating elevated depressive symptoms on this screening scale.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Parents with concerns

41%OF USERS

Parents or caregivers use it when a child seems persistently sad, withdrawn, irritable, or less interested in daily activities.

School support staff

34%OF USERS

School counselors, psychologists, or pastoral staff use it for a quick check-in when a student shows signs of low mood, stress, or changes in behavior.

Clinicians and researchers

25%OF USERS

Mental health professionals and research teams use it as a brief depression symptom screener to decide whether further assessment is needed.

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.

Depressive Symptom Scale (DSS)

Average

8.3

Normal range

3.6 — 12.9

min.

max.

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.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please indicate whether you have felt this way during the past two weeks.

- Not true
- Sometimes
- True
- No
- Sometimes
- Yes
- No
- Sometimes
- Yes

These are 3 of the 13 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) Test - Symptoms and Signs

depression

This brief self-report screening measure is designed to assess depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) is typically used to support early identification of mood-related concerns and to inform whether additional evaluation may be indicated.

Developed by Angold, A., it consists of 13 items and takes about 3 minutes to complete. Items ask about recent feelings and behaviors using a simple response format to support age-appropriate comprehension. The Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) is commonly used in clinical, school, and research settings as an initial symptom screen and should be interpreted within the broader clinical context, including developmental factors and other available sources of information.

Author: Angold, A.

Literature: Angold, A., Costello, E. J., Messer, S. C., Pickles, A., Winder, F., & Silver, D. Development of a short questionnaire for use in epidemiological studies of depression in children and adolescents. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. 1995.