It is designed to evaluate a broad range of psychological problems and symptoms of psychopathology.
It is also used in measuring the progress and outcome of psychiatric and psychological treatments or for research purposes.
The primary symptom dimensions that are assessed are somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, psychoticism, and a category of "additional items" which helps clinicians assess other aspect of the clients symptoms (e.g. item 19, "poor appetite").
[1] A high number of studies have been conducted demonstrating the reliability, validity, and utility of the instrument.
The Spanish adaptation was made by Luis de Rivera, MD.