Application and Target Group
The DASS-21 is suitable for clinical settings to assist in diagnosis and outcome monitoring, as well as non-clinical settings as a mental health screener.
As the scales of the DASS have been shown to have high internal consistency and to yield meaningful discriminations in a variety of settings, the scales should meet the needs of both researchers and clinicians who wish to measure current state or change in state over time (e.g., in the course of treatment) on the three dimensions of depression, anxiety and stress.
The principal value of the DASS in a clinical setting is to clarify the locus of emotional disturbance. The DASS is based on a dimensional rather than a categorical conception of psychological distress, and scores emphasize the degree to which someone is experiencing symptoms rather than diagnostic cutoff points.
As the scales of the DASS have been shown to have high internal consistency and to yield meaningful discrimination between symptoms, the scale should meet the needs of clinicians who wish to measure current state or change in state over time (e.g., in the course of treatment).
