DASS-21 scoring: how to score it and what your scores mean

DASS-21 scoring is done separately for three 7-item scales: depression, anxiety and stress. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, 21-item version, has 21 statements rated from 0 to 3 for the past week. Add the seven ratings in each scale, then multiply each sum by 2. That gives three scores from 0 to 42 that compare directly with the full 42-item DASS. There is no grand total, and none of the three scores is a diagnosis.

How to score the DASS-21

These steps follow the official DASS FAQ and scoring template from the questionnaire's authors at UNSW Sydney. If you took the DASS-21 on Survey Doctor, the app has already done them for you.

1. Rate each statement from 0 to 3. A 0 means it did not apply to you at all over the past week. A 3 means it applied very much, or most of the time. No item is reverse-scored.
2. Sort the 21 items into their three scales using the table below.
3. Add the seven ratings in each scale. Each raw sum runs from 0 to 21.
4. Multiply each sum by 2. Each final score runs from 0 to 42.
5. Look up each score in its own table in the next section.

The item numbers match the official DASS-21 form, and Survey Doctor asks the questions in the same order. For example, say your seven depression ratings are 1, 0, 2, 1, 1, 0 and 2. They add up to 7, and 7 times 2 is 14, which is in the moderate depression band. Without the doubling, the raw 7 would wrongly read as normal.

The severity tables were built for the full DASS-42. The authors chose the 21 short-form items so that each scale scores very close to half of the full scale. Doubling puts your score on the same 0 to 42 range as the long form and its published norms. It also makes every DASS-21 score an even number. The odd numbers in the tables come from the 42-item version.

Survey Doctor scores are already doubled. If your result says depression 14, read 14 in the table. Doubling it again would give 28, which is extremely severe. If you enter an outside result by hand, enter the doubled scores. Survey Doctor needs all 21 answers. For paper forms, the DASS FAQ's rule of thumb allows one missing answer per scale. Fill it with the average of the other six.

These steps are for the adult DASS-21. The DASS-Y, a separate 21-item version for young people, is not doubled and has its own cutoffs.

DASS-21 severity tables

Read each doubled score against its own table. The labels and cutoffs come from the DASS manual (Lovibond and Lovibond, 1995). The third column shows the raw seven-item sum that produces each band, for anyone scoring by hand.

Depression

Anxiety

Stress

The same number can carry different labels on different scales. A score of 14 is moderate for depression and anxiety, but normal for stress. Each label describes how much distress you reported for one week.

What each scale measures

Each scale covers a different kind of distress, as the official DASS overview describes:

• Depression: low mood, little interest or enjoyment, low drive, hopelessness, feeling worthless, and feeling that life has no meaning.
• Anxiety: physical signs of fear, such as a racing heart, trembling, dry mouth or breathlessness, and feeling close to panic.
• Stress: ongoing tension, trouble relaxing, nervous energy, irritability, being easily upset, and impatience with delays.

The DASS authors say the stress scale is quite similar to generalized anxiety disorder, a condition of ongoing worry. The anxiety scale focuses more on physical arousal and panic. The stress scale measures how tense you feel, not how many stressful events you faced. If worry is your main concern, the GAD-7 score guide covers a questionnaire that asks about it directly. The three scales are moderately related, so a high score on one often comes with a raised score on another.

Why there is no grand total

Survey Doctor reports three scores and no total. Each scale has its own cutoffs, so a sum of the three cannot be read against any of the tables. A total of 30 could come from depression 30 alone, which is extremely severe. It could also come from 10 on each scale, which is mild depression, moderate anxiety and normal stress.

The DASS authors say a combined score can be a sensible measure of overall distress. To compare it with the severity labels, they recommend averaging standard scores, which need the norms in the DASS manual. A plain sum of the three numbers has no severity table, so Survey Doctor does not calculate or label one.

What "normal" means, and what it does not

The labels compare your score with the general population, not with people who have a diagnosis. The DASS FAQ explains that "mild" means above the population average but well below the typical person seeking help. It does not mean a mild form of a disorder.

"Normal" is the lowest band. It means your score was in the range common in the general population for that week. It does not mean you had no symptoms, and it does not rule out a mental health condition. The authors call any cutoff on this smooth scale arbitrary. Someone just below a cutoff can still have real symptoms.

A normal score is not a reason to stop care you already have. The labels cannot tell you to start, stop or change treatment.

Your scores cover the past week

Every DASS-21 statement asks about the past week. The scores are a one-week snapshot, so a hard week can raise them and a calmer week can lower them. The DASS FAQ notes that changing the time frame breaks the link with the published norms.

The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 ask about the past two weeks and use different ranges. A DASS-21 score cannot be converted into either. The DASS-21 and PHQ-9 comparison explains how the two differ.

To track change, take the same form under similar conditions and compare each scale on its own. Moving one answer up or down one step changes a doubled score by 2, enough to cross some cutoffs. Survey Doctor does not mark any change as meaningful on this questionnaire, so talk changes through with a provider.

What your scores cannot tell you

The DASS-21 describes how much distress you reported. It cannot diagnose depression, an anxiety disorder or any other condition. Its authors treat these states as differing by degree, and say the scores have no direct link to diagnostic categories. It also cannot show why you feel this way. Grief, illness, a medicine, poor sleep or a hard event can all raise scores. It does not ask about sleep, appetite and other symptoms that a doctor would check.

None of the 21 items asks about suicidal thoughts or self-harm. The authors dropped suicide-related items because they did not fit any of the three scales. A low depression score therefore says nothing about safety. If you feel unsafe or may harm yourself, seek help now rather than waiting for a score review.

If you need help now. In the US, Call 988 or text 988. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger. Outside the US, contact your local emergency number or find support in your country.

When to talk to a professional

Talk with a doctor or therapist if any scale is in the moderate band or higher. Do the same at any score if symptoms last for weeks, keep coming back or make daily life harder. You do not need a high score to ask for help. The DASS authors say decisions based on these scores belong with an experienced clinician after a full assessment.

It helps to bring:

• all three scores, and whether they were already doubled
• how long you have felt this way, and whether it comes and goes
• what has become harder, such as work, sleep or relationships
• symptoms the questions did not cover, such as changes in sleep or appetite
• the medicines you take, and any alcohol or drugs you use

If you are still working out what you feel, read am I stressed or anxious?. Clinicians choosing between measures can compare the DASS-21 with separate depression and anxiety scales.