Have you ever wondered if what you are feeling is “normal” tension, or something more? Do you have difficult days when everything seems overwhelming, but you don’t know what to call it? DASS-21 is a tool that can help you better understand what’s going on in your emotional life.
What is DASS-21?
The DASS 21 psychological test is an acronym for “Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21” – freely translated: Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale consisting of 21 questions. It’s a simple self-assessment questionnaire that you can complete in a few minutes to better understand your current well-being.
Importantly – this is not a diagnostic test. It won’t tell you if you have depression or an anxiety disorder. Instead, it will help you:
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Better understand your condition and emotions.
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Assess the severity of difficult feelings.
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Decide whether it is worth consulting a specialist.
What exactly does this questionnaire check?
The DASS-21 examines three main areas of your well-being:
1. Depression – has your mood slipped?
This part of the test checks whether you are experiencing symptoms, associated with depression:
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Sadness and depression.
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Loss of interest in things that used to bring you joy.
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A sense of hopelessness.
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Difficulty getting motivated to do things.
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Negative thoughts about yourself.
Sample question, “I couldn’t feel any positive feelings.”
2. Anxiety – do you often worry?
The anxiety section assesses:
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Anxiety and worry.
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Physical aggravation of anxiety symptoms (such as faster heartbeat, dry mouth, accelerated breathing).
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Fear of specific situations.
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Feelings of panic.
Sample question, “I was worried about situations in which I might panic.”
3. Stress – do you feel overworked?
This part checks:
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Difficulty relaxing.
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Irritability and impatience.
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A sense of being “under pressure.”
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Overreacting to everyday situations
Sample question, “I’ve had difficulty relaxing.
What does the research say?
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The internal consistency of the DASS-21 is high: Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the subscales are in the range of 0.84-0.95.
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The factor structure of the test (dep, anx, stress) was confirmed in confirmatory analyses on samples from different countries.
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The tool shows good construct validity: strong correlations with other measures of negative affect and life satisfaction.
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Language adaptations (including the Polish version) confirm psychometric stability: Cronbach’s α ≥ 0.89 for all subscales.
How does the DASS-21 test work?
Improved self-knowledge
The test will help you name what you are feeling. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish whether what you’re experiencing is stress, anxiety or perhaps a lowered mood. The DASS-21 brings clarity.
A starting point for change
When you know exactly what you’re dealing with, it’s easier to take the right steps – whether it’s coping techniques on your own or visiting a specialist.
Monitor your progress
You can fill out the test regularly and observe how your well-being changes over time or after you start therapy.
How to fill out the test?
The DASS-21 is 21 simple statements about how you have been feeling over the past week. For each, you choose one of four options on a Likert scale:
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0 – “did not affect me at all”
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1 – “it affected me to some extent or sometimes”
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2 – “it affected me a lot or often”
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3 – “affected me a great deal or most of the time”
Be honest – no one is grading your answers. The more truthfully you answer, the more useful the results will be.
Questions – Dass 21 test
The questionnaire is a screening test for self-diagnosis of mental state. The tool was constructed by the Psychology Foundation of Australia, and adapted and translated into Polish by a team of researchers: Marta Makara-Studzińska, Beata Petkowicz, Anna Urbańska and Jacek Petkowicz. The DASS 21 questionnaire is a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the states of depression, anxiety and stress.
Please read each statement and mark a number on a scale from 0 to 3 that indicates how much the statement applies to you, over the past week. There are no right or wrong answers. Don’t think too long about your answer.
Numbers mean:
0 It did not apply to me at all
1 It applied to me to some extent or for some time
2 It applied to me to a great extent or for a long time
3 It applied to me to a very large extent or most of the time
1. I found it very difficult to relax
0
1
2
3
2. I felt dry mouth
0
1
2
3
3. I could not experience any positive feelings
0
1
2
3
4. I felt difficulty breathing (e.g., breathing too fast, feeling short of breath without prior exercise)
0
1
2
3
5. I found it difficult to start something
0
1
2
3
6. I tended to overreact to various situations
0
1
2
3
7. I have felt tremors (e.g., hands)
0
1
2
3
8. I used/am using a lot of nervous energy
0
1
2
3
9. I feared a situation where I might panic and make a fool of myself
0
1
2
3
10. I felt that nothing would happen to me in life anymore
0
1
2
3
11. I was feeling cranky
0
1
2
3
12. I found it difficult to relax
0
1
2
3
13. I felt depressed and sad
0
1
2
3
14. I couldn’t stand how anything interfered with what I just happened to be doing
0
1
2
3
15. I felt I was close to panicking
0
1
2
3
16. I could not enjoy anything
0
1
2
3
17. I felt like an unworthy person
0
1
2
3
18. I felt that I was rather oversensitive
0
1
2
3
19. I felt my heart beating when I was not doing any physical activity (e.g., feeling my heart rate accelerate, my heart dying)
0
1
2
3
20. I felt scared for no reason at all
0
1
2
3
21. I felt/feel that life is worthless
0
1
2
3
Standards
Norms for the DASS-21 questionnaire.DASS-21 is a tool consisting of 3 self-report scales: depression, anxiety and stress. Each of the 3 scales consists of 7 items divided into subscales with similar content.
Depression scale questions: 3, 5, 10, 13, 16, 17, 21.
Anxiety scale questions: 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 19, 20.
Stress scale questions: 1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, 18.
To obtain a final score on the DASS-21 questionnaire, one must add together the points assigned to all questions included in each scale separately, and then multiply the resulting score by 2. The use of the DASS-21 is intended to indicate directions for self-observation and herald the need for professional help. Only a psychiatrist can make a diagnosis of depression.
Test results
| Depression | Anxiety | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Normal Range | 0-9 | 0-7 |
| Mild | 10-13 | 8-9 |
| Moderate | 14-20 | 10-14 |
| Severe | 21-27 | 15-19 |
| Extremely Severe | 28+ | 20+ |
How to interpret the results?
The test gives you three separate results – for depression, anxiety and stress. Each score can be interpreted as:
Normal/Moderate score-Your feelings are within normal range.
Moderate score-You may need support or to learn coping techniques.
Significant/Very Significant Score- It is worth consulting a specialist.
Remember: high scores do not mean a diagnosis! It is a signal that you should take care of your mental health.
What to do with the results?
If your results are elevated, Don’t panic – it’s normal to go through difficult periods sometimes. Talk to someone you trust. Consider seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist. Take care of the basics – sleep, food, movement, social interaction.
If the results are normal: great! Continue doing what you’re doing. Remember mental health prevention. Be attentive to changes in your mood.
Important caveats. The DASS-21 is not a substitute for a clinical diagnosis by a specialist. Results may change depending on your current life situation. The test does not address all aspects of mental health.
Where to seek help?
If the test results have troubled you or you simply feel you need support: Therapist – to help you cope with your emotions and develop your skills – online psychotherapy. Psychiatrist – when you may need pharmacotherapy. Helpline – when you need immediate support in a crisis.
Bibliography:
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Antony, M. M., Bieling, P. J., Cox, B. J., Enns, M. W., & Swinson, R. P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36(4), 459-468.
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Henry, J. D., & Crawford, J. R. (2005). The short-form version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): Construct validity and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 44(2), 227-239.
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Lee, J., & Freeston, M. H. (1998). Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21): Validation in a non-clinical sample. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54(6), 852-862.
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Szabó, M. (2010). The Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 in clinical settings and non-clinical populations: Psychometric evaluation in a Hungarian sample. Psychological Assessment, 22(2), 249-260.
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Makary-Studzinska, M., Petkowicz, J., Urbanska, M., & Petkowicz, R. (2024). Polish adaptation and validation of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-42). Psychiatry Poland, 58(2), 123-136.
- https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-psychiatry/article/psychometric-properties-of-the-depression-anxiety-stress-scales21-dass21-in-a-portuguese-sample-during-the-early-stage-of-the-covid19-pandemic/07095F47D13AFCAD879BCAAF715ECFBD
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032725006743