Goldberg Anxiety and Depression Scale

Two nine-item subscales with a screening filter of the first four questions. Thresholds: anxiety 4 points, depression 2 points.

Updated 31 Aug 2026 · Methodology

Questions refer to the past two weeks. Anxiety subscale threshold 4 points, depression subscale threshold 2 points.

A1. Have you felt keyed up, on edge or tense?

A2. Have you been worrying a lot?

A3. Have you been irritable?

A4. Have you had difficulty relaxing?

A5. Have you been sleeping poorly?

Items A5–A9 are asked only if two or more of the first four are «yes»

A6. Have you had headaches or neck aches?

A7. Have you had tremor, tingling, dizziness, sweating or diarrhoea?

A8. Have you been worried about your health?

A9. Have you had difficulty falling asleep?

D1. Have you had low energy?

D2. Have you lost interest in things?

D3. Have you lost confidence in yourself?

D4. Have you felt hopeless?

D5. Have you had difficulty concentrating?

Items D5–D9 are asked only if at least one of the first four is «yes»

D6. Have you lost weight because of poor appetite?

D7. Have you been waking too early?

D8. Have you felt slowed down?

D9. Have you tended to feel worse in the mornings?

About this calculator

The scale is built as a structured interview for a general practice consultation rather than as a self-report questionnaire. The first four questions of each subscale act as a filter: if fewer than two anxiety answers and no depression answers are positive, the remaining five questions are not asked and the subscale closes. That design saves time in a consultation where psychological distress is looked for alongside a physical complaint. The validation thresholds from Montón 1993 are 4 points for anxiety and 2 for depression. Spanish primary care uses this scale more than longer instruments precisely because of the filter. The limits are worth keeping in mind. A 2-point depression threshold catches a great deal and its specificity is modest: a positive result calls for a conversation, not a diagnosis. The scale does not measure severity, so treatment decisions are not built on it. Both subscales often come out positive together, which reflects how genuinely anxiety and depression coexist rather than an error in completion.

Source

Goldberg D, Bridges K, Duncan-Jones P, Grayson D. Detecting anxiety and depression in general medical settings. BMJ 1988;297(6653):897-899. Испанская валидация: Montón C et al. Aten Primaria 1993;12(6):345-349.

Formula version: goldberg-1988-monton-1993-v1

Calculators

PHQ-9 calculator online: depression screening and severity questionnairePHQ-9 is a 9-item depression screening and severity questionnaire. Each item scored 0–3, total 0–27. Interpretation per DSM-5: none, mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe depression. Used in primary care and patients with chronic conditions.
GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale)Screening and severity grading of generalized anxiety disorder over the last 2 weeks. Total 0–21.
AUDIT-C (brief alcohol screening)Three-question WHO AUDIT subset for problem-drinking screening. Total 0–12; cutoff ≥ 4 in men, ≥ 3 in women.
Geriatric Depression Scale, 15-item (GDS-15)Fifteen yes-or-no questions with no somatic items. Screening threshold 5 points.

Drugs

Escitalopram, Sertraline

About this calculator

Source

Related