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Symptom Checklist K-9 (SCL-K-9)3

Symptom Checklist K-9 (SCL-K-9) Test

Understand recent symptom severity across key mental health areas in about 2 minutes. Nine focused items deliver fast, reliable screening to guide next steps and track change over time.

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Questions: 92 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

15,036 views

1,726 completions

1,294 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

18/36

Psychopathological Symptom Severity (PSS)

Measures overall severity of recent psychopathological symptoms and general psychological distress.

Low

Moderate

High

0 – 12: Low | 13 – 24: Moderate | 25 – 36: High

A score of 18 falls in the Moderate range, indicating a mid-level intensity of overall psychological distress in the recent period.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

People tracking mental health

41%OF USERS

They want a quick snapshot of recent symptoms like anxiety, low mood, or physical stress signs to see if things are improving or worsening.

Therapy and psychiatry clients

34%OF USERS

They take it before or during treatment to help a clinician screen symptom severity and monitor changes over time.

Research and survey participants

25%OF USERS

They complete it as part of a study or large survey where a brief, standardized measure of psychological distress 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.

Severity of Psychopathological Symptoms (SoPS)

Average

14.1

Normal range

7.8 — 20.4

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

Below is a list of problems that people experience from time to time. Please rate how much these problems have bothered you during the past month.

- Not at all
- A little
- Moderately
- Quite a bit
- Very much
- Not at all
- A little
- Moderately
- Quite a bit
- Extremely
- Not at all
- A little
- Moderately
- Quite a bit
- Very much

These are 3 of the 9 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

Symptom Checklist K-9 (SCL-K-9) Test - Symptoms and Signs

depression

phobias

obsessiveness

paranoia

psychopathology

schizotypy

uneasiness

Psychopathology can present across a wide range of symptoms, and brief screening measures can help quantify current distress in clinical and research settings. The Symptom Checklist K-9 (SCL-K-9) is a short self-report symptom inventory derived from longer symptom checklist formats (Derogatis). It contains 9 items and typically requires about 2 minutes to complete.

Respondents rate the recent frequency or severity of common psychological and somatic symptoms to support rapid appraisal of overall symptom burden. The Symptom Checklist K-9 (SCL-K-9) is intended for screening and monitoring over time and should be interpreted in conjunction with clinical history, interview findings, and other assessment data rather than used as a standalone diagnostic tool.

Author: Leonard R. Derogatis

Literature: Foa, E. B., Keane, T. M., Friedman, M. J., & Cohen, J. A. Effective treatments for PTSD: Practice guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. Guilford Press. 2009.; Derogatis, L. R. SCL-90-R: Administration, scoring and procedures manual. Clinical Psychometric Research. 1994.; Klaghofer, R., & Brähler, E. Konstruktion und teststatistische Prüfung einer Kurzform der SCL-90-R. Zeitschrift für Klinische Psychologie, Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie. 2001.