Kessler's instrument asks how often, during the past 30 days, the respondent felt:

• So sad that nothing could cheer you up? (ASAD)

• Nervous? (ANERVOUS)

• Restless or fidgety? (ARESTLESS)

• Hopeless? (AHOPELESS)

• That everything was an effort? (AEFFORT)

• Worthless? (AWORTHLESS)

As noted above, acceptable responses fell into five categories, ranging from "none of the time" to "all of the time."

Kessler recommends scoring the scale by assigning 0 to 4 points for each of these six questions, based on the reported frequency of the feelings (i.e., 0 for "none of the time"; 1 for "a little of the time"; 2 for "some of the time"; 3 for "most of the time"; and 4 for "all of the time"). The range for summed responses on the K6 Scale is thus 0 to 24, with 0 suggesting the lowest level of nonspecific psychological distress, and 24 suggesting the highest level of nonspecific psychological distress. According to the scoring criteria proposed by Kessler, persons with a score of 13 or greater are likely to be experiencing severe mental illness.

The summed score is reported in K6SUM.