DASS, the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales,[1] is made up of 42 self-report items to be completed over five to ten minutes, each reflecting a negative emotional symptom.
[1] The main purpose of the DASS is to isolate and identify aspects of emotional disturbance, for example, to assess the degree of severity of the core symptoms of depression, anxiety, or stress.
While the DASS can be administered and scored by individuals without psychology qualifications, it is recommended that the interpretation and decisions based on results are made by an experienced clinician in combination with other forms of assessment.
[1] The test was then normed on a sample of 1044 men and 1870 women aged between 17 and 69 years, across participants of varying backgrounds, including university students, nurses in training, and blue and white collared employees of a major airline, bank, railway workshop, and naval dockyard.
While the test was not normed against samples younger than 17, due to the simplicity of language, there has been no compelling evidence against the use of the scales for comparison against children as young as 12.