The psychometric characteristics of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) in help-seeking youth: What do you miss when using it as an outcome measure?

SM Cotton; J Menssink; K Filia; D Rickwood; IB Hickie; M Hamilton; S Hetrick; A Parker; H Herrman; PD McGorry; C Gao

Journal article

The psychometric characteristics of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) in help-seeking youth: What do you miss when using it as an outcome measure?

SM Cotton, J Menssink, K Filia, D Rickwood, IB Hickie, M Hamilton, S Hetrick, A Parker, H Herrman, PD McGorry, C Gao

Psychiatry Research | ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD | Published : 2021

DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114182

Abstract

This is the first study to describe psychometric properties of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) in a large cohort of help-seeking young people presenting to primary mental health care services. The aim was to determine whether the K6 was appropriate for monitoring outcomes in such settings. 1067 young people were recruited from Australian headspace services. We examined dimensionality of the K6, measurement invariance, and how the K6 correlated with the the Patient Health Questionnaire–9 (PHQ-9)and the Generalised Anxiety Disorder–7 Scale (GAD-7). Standardised Response Mean (SRM) and Cohen's d effect size (ES) were used to examine 3-month stability of the K6. The best-fitting mo..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Related Projects (2)

YOUTH-SPECIFIC CLIENT CHANGE IN MENTAL HEALTH

Mental ill-health is the major issue facing young Australians and the Australian government has recognised this by investing in the headspac..

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Sharnel Perera for her contributions in many aspects of the project and the team of research assistants involved in collecting the data. We thank the headspace centre staff and young people whose participation made this study possible. The study was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Grant (APP1076940) . This was a joint project between Orygen, The University of Melbourne and headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation. SC is supported by a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (APP1136344) .