Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7)

Instructions:

Please read each statement and select from “Not at all” to “Nearly every day” to indicate how much the statement applied to you over the past two weeks.

Not at all Several days More than half the days Nearly every day
  Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge 0 1 2 3
Not being able to stop or control worrying 0 1 2 3
Worrying too much about different things 0 1 2 3
Trouble relaxing 0 1 2 3
Being so restless that it is hard to sit still 0 1 2 3
Becoming easily annoyed or irritable 0 1 2 3
Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen 0 1 2 3

Description

The GAD-7 is a brief measure of symptoms of anxiety, based on the generalized anxiety disorder diagnostic criteria described in DSM-IV. This assessment asks patients to evaluate their level of symptoms over the last two weeks and can be used to track treatment progress over time. Given the simple language used in the assessment it is appropriate for individuals as young as 14 years. When used as a screening tool, further evaluation is recommended when the score is 10 or greater. Using the threshold score of 10, the GAD-7 has a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 82% for generalized anxiety disorder. It is moderately good at screening three other common anxiety disorders – panic disorder (sensitivity 74%, specificity 81%), social anxiety disorder (sensitivity 72%, specificity 80%), and post-traumatic stress disorder (sensitivity 66%, specificity 81%) (Kroenke, et al. 2007).

Validity and Reliability

Lowe et al. (2008) investigated the validity and reliability of the GAD-7. Confirmatory factor analyses substantiated the 1-dimensional structure of the GAD-7. Internal consistency was identical across all subgroups (alpha = 0.89). Intercorrelations with the PHQ-2 and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were r = 0.64 (P < 0.001) and r = -0.43 (P < 0.001), respectively. As expected, women had significantly higher mean (SD) GAD-7 anxiety scores compared with men [3.2 (3.5) vs. 2.7 (3.2); P < 0.001]. Approximately 5% of subjects had GAD-7 scores of 10 or greater, and 1% had GAD-7 scores of 15 or greater. Norms were developed by Lowe et al. (2008) with a German sample of 5030 subjects (53.6% female) with a mean age (SD) of 48.4 (18.0) years.

Interpretation

A raw score (from 0 to 21) is presented as well as a percentile rank based on the Lowe et al. (2008) community sample. Given that females score slightly higher than males, a percentile for each gender is presented – the appropriate gender percentile should be selected for interpretation.
Developer

Number Of Questions

7

References

Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB, et al; anxiety disorders  in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. Ann Intern Med. 2007:146(5):317-25.

Löwe, B., Decker, O., Müller, S., Brähler, E., Schellberg, D., Herzog, W., & Herzberg, P. Y. (2008). Validation and standardization of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7) in the general population. Medical care, 46(3), 266.

This content is licensed under a CC-BY license. The CC-BY licenses grant rights of use the scales in your studies (the measurement instrument and its documentation), but do not replace copyright. This remains with the copyright holder, and you have to cite us as the source.

Mohammed Looti, PSYCHOLOGICAL SCALES (2023) Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7). Retrieved from https://scales.arabpsychology.com/s/generalized-anxiety-disorder-assessment-gad-7/. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31575.96163

Related terms:

  1. Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener-7 (GAD-7)
  2. GAD-7 Anxiety Severity
  3. Kutcher Generalized Social Anxiety Disorder Scale for Adolescents (K-GSADS-A)
  4. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  5. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  6. Generalized Attitude Measure
  7. Revised Generalized Ethnocentrism Scale (GENE)
  8. Generalized Linear Model
  9. Generalized Seizure (Grand Mal Seizure)
  10. GENERALIZED IMITATION