Mental health professionals, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, rely on a range of mental health assessment tools to evaluate patient well-being. Even primary care clinicians can benefit from using screening tools to gain further insight into a patient's condition before making a mental health referral.
However, with so many mental health questionnaires available from both official and unofficial sources, finding the right screening test can be time-consuming. If an ineffective assessment tool is used, this may lead to inaccurate assessments and unnecessary stress and inconvenience for the patient.
In this article, we provide a list of mental health assessment tools for common mental illnesses, and outline how they can be used to screen, diagnose, and monitor symptoms. Additionally, we connect the dots between mental and cognitive health assessments, and explain why it's important to include both objective and subjective measures to improve patient mental health outcomes.
Article Highlights
Mental health assessment tools fall into 3 stages of use: screening, diagnosis, and symptom or outcome monitoring.
- Screening tools primarily assess subjective symptoms, so objective measurements like cognitive assessments are often needed to verify or support a patient's self-report.
- Combining subjective questionnaires with objective cognitive data supports more accurate diagnosis and better symptom monitoring over time.
- Creyos offers digitized versions of standard mental health questionnaires alongside validated cognitive assessments, usable in-clinic or remotely.
What Mental Health Assessment Tools Are Used?
Mental health care uses many different assessment tools for screening and treatment monitoring. To use them well, clinicians need to know what stage of assessment each tool falls under, along with its limits and proper use, so they can more effectively support patients with mental illness.
Mental Health Screening Tools
An initial screening is a brief psychological assessment used to determine whether a patient has a general mental health condition. This typically takes the form of a self-report questionnaire that's completed by the patient, such as those used for ADHD screening.
While screening is usually quick to administer, the results primarily assess subjective symptoms. If a positive result is found, the clinician can follow up with the patient and recommend a more in-depth assessment to capture comprehensive objective measurements before reaching a formal diagnosis.
Tools for Diagnosing Mental Health Conditions
Mental health assessment tools have the potential to support the diagnosis of mental health disorders. Diagnosis can be achieved via a combination of patient self-report measures, clinical interviews, and scientifically validated tests that measure objective markers corresponding to diagnostic criteria.
For example, the Creyos ADHD Protocol is a comprehensive tool that uses both objective and subjective measurements to support the process of ADHD diagnosis.
Once a diagnosis is reached and treatment is implemented, the clinician and patient can take steps toward monitoring symptoms and mental health outcomes.
Tools for Mental Health Symptom and Outcome Monitoring
Monitoring outcomes and symptoms often takes the form of regular self-report questionnaires so the clinician can assess changes in the patient's mental health over time. Examples of these measures include the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for measuring depressive symptoms.
While self-reporting methods are inherently subjective, combining them with objective measurements, like cognitive assessments, supports evidence-based practice and data-driven clinical decisions, informed by information collected at regular appointments and follow-ups.
Can Clinicians Leverage Both Objective and Subjective Measurements?
Clinicians can use a variety of assessment tools to leverage both objective and subjective data for screening and monitoring. Subjective measurements typically include patient self-report questionnaires, which capture a patient's personal perception of their symptoms. On the other hand, objective measurements aim to capture observable symptoms and medical evidence that can be assessed via scientifically validated tests.
For an accurate mental health assessment, both measurements are important. Subjective measurements are vital as the patient is often the only witness to the target behavior, although individual results must be interpreted with caution. Objective measurements are often required to verify or support the patient's subjective experience. Together, these measurements capture a broad range of evidence that can be used to make critical healthcare decisions.
Mental Health Assessment Tools by Condition
Physicians and mental health professionals can identify symptoms and screen, assess, and monitor a patient's mental and cognitive health with the digitized tools below, many of which are available in the Creyos Health platform. The table gives an at-a-glance overview, with detail on each tool in the sections that follow.
| Condition | Tool(s) | What it captures | Primary use |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADHD | Creyos ADHD Protocol, SWAN, VADRS, ASRS Part A | Objective cognitive markers plus self-reported symptoms | Screen, diagnose, monitor |
| Addiction | DAST-10, AUDIT | Drug abuse signs; alcohol use and drinking behaviors | Screen |
| Anxiety | GAD-7 | Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms | Screen |
| Autism | AQ | Autism traits | Screen |
| Bipolar disorder | MDQ | Bipolar spectrum symptoms | Screen |
| Depression | PHQ-9 | Depressive symptoms and severity | Screen, diagnose, monitor |
| PTSD | PCL-5 | Presence and severity of PTSD symptoms | Screen, diagnose, monitor |
| Stress | PSS | Subjective stress levels | Monitor |
What Tools Are Used for ADHD Assessment?
ADHD is a behavioral and cognitive condition that can affect a person's mental health. Despite growing public awareness of ADHD, there is still a negative ADHD stigma that can also contribute to mental health challenges and make it difficult for patients to seek treatment. Clinicians need the right tools to screen, diagnose, and track symptoms of ADHD, particularly its objective markers, which can be captured via cognitive assessments.
Creyos ADHD Assessment Tool
The Creyos ADHD assessment tool includes a scientifically validated protocol and automated report capable of identifying objective markers of ADHD. It contains 5 tasks that examine 14 specific cognitive markers of ADHD. The test takes less than 25 minutes to complete, can be completed in-clinic or from the comfort of a patient's home, and is designed to assist in ADHD diagnosis and ongoing monitoring.
The protocol also includes the following age-based self-report questionnaires, which can help physicians capture objective and subjective markers of ADHD, leading to a more accurate diagnosis and better mental health outcomes.
SWAN Assessment
The Strengths and Weaknesses of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Symptoms and Normal Behavior (SWAN) Scale is an 18-item screening tool used to assess ADHD symptoms in children and adolescents.
VADRS Assessment
The Vanderbilt Assessment (VADRS) for Childhood ADHD is a diagnostic aid designed for use by parents and clinicians to screen children and adolescents for ADHD symptoms.
ASRS Part A Assessment
The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) Part A is a 6-question self-report questionnaire. It's commonly used to screen for ADHD in adults and to identify those who should be tested further.
What Tools Are Used for Addiction Assessment?
Substance use disorder (SUD) takes many forms. Clinicians commonly use brief screening questionnaires like the DAST-10 and the AUDIT to identify drug and alcohol use early. Creyos offers digitized versions of both the DAST-10 and the AUDIT.
DAST-10
The Drug Abuse Screening Test (DAST-10) is used to identify signs of drug abuse problems in patients as early as possible. A 10-item assessment, the DAST-10 can be self-administered in 2 minutes.
AUDIT Questionnaire
The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) is a short screening questionnaire designed to assess alcohol consumption and drinking behaviors.
What Tools Are Used for Anxiety Assessment?
For patients presenting with anxiety, or already diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, a brief rating scale gives clinicians a structured way to quantify the severity of anxiety symptoms and track change over the course of treatment. Measuring those symptoms alongside cognitive performance can also surface the connection between anxiety and the brain, helping inform treatment decisions.
GAD-7 Questionnaire
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaire is a screening tool used to measure generalized anxiety disorder symptoms. It's a 7-question, self-administered assessment that is quick and easy to complete.
What Tools Are Used for Autism Assessment?
Rates of autism diagnosis have increased, and clinicians need reliable ways to screen for autism traits and decide when to pursue a full diagnostic assessment or refer to a specialist.
AQ Questionnaire
The Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) questionnaire is a short, self-administered health assessment. It's valuable as an autism screening tool, and can assist in the decision to administer a full diagnostic assessment or refer to a specialist.
What Tools Are Used for Bipolar Disorder Assessment?
In one study, over 80% of bipolar disorder cases were characterized by serious impairment, the highest percentage among mood disorders. At Creyos, we offer an easy-to-administer bipolar disorder screening tool that can be used on its own or alongside cognitive tasks and other questionnaires.
MDQ Screener
The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) is a screening instrument for bipolar spectrum disorder. If a patient reaches the cutoff score for bipolar disorder on the MDQ, it's recommended that a trained clinician follow up for further assessment.
What Tools Are Used for Depression Assessment?
Depression is a mental illness that has close ties to cognitive function. Collecting information on the mental health and cognitive effects of depression can have important clinical implications for patient health outcomes.
PHQ-9
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) is a 9-question instrument for screening depression. It can also be used to assist with depression diagnosis and as a severity measure to monitor depression symptoms over time.
What Tools Are Used for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Assessment?
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop after exposure to traumatic events and is associated with a range of negative health effects, including cognitive impacts.
PCL-5 Checklist
The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) is a 20-item self-report measure that assesses the presence and severity of PTSD symptoms. It takes 10 minutes to complete, and is primarily used to screen individuals who have experienced trauma for PTSD, assist in making a diagnosis, and monitor symptoms after treatment.
What Tools Are Used for Stress Assessment?
While some stress can be unavoidable, and in some cases even beneficial, too much stress can lead to a wide range of negative health outcomes.
PSS Screener
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) aims to capture subjective stress levels. Scores on the PSS are meant as an aid to quantify a patient's self-reported stress and measure improvement over time.
What's the Connection Between Cognitive and Mental Health?
Mental health can markedly impact cognition. Research suggests that depression can lead to cognitive impairment, and anxiety has characteristic cognitive symptoms. By identifying the effects of mental illnesses on the brain, clinicians can better understand the patient's experience and tailor treatment accordingly for a patient-centered care strategy.
Subjective questionnaires capture mood and emotional well-being, but on their own they are not enough to reach an accurate diagnosis quickly. Using scientifically backed cognitive assessments alongside them lets clinicians follow the progression of mental illnesses and deliver better patient outcomes.
Creyos provides a suite of computerized cognitive assessments that helps clinicians screen, assess, and monitor mental disorders and other conditions that may affect mental health with both subjective and objective measurements.
Where Does Objective Assessment Fit in Mental Health Care?
Mental health assessment has always leaned on subjective measures, and self-report questionnaires remain essential, since the patient is often the only witness to what they are experiencing. What those measures cannot do on their own is confirm or quantify what sits beneath the reported symptoms. Objective data, such as performance on validated cognitive tasks, gives clinicians a way to corroborate a patient's account and add detail to it, particularly when presentations overlap or are difficult to disentangle.
Used together, subjective and objective measures offer a fuller and more reliable picture than either provides alone. Objective cognitive assessment does not replace clinical judgment or the questionnaires clinicians already rely on. It sits alongside them, as one more source of evidence that can support a diagnosis, guide interventions, and help track how a patient changes over time.
Reviewed by Sydni Paleczny, Staff Scientist at Creyos
Sydni earned her MSc in Neurosciences at Western University under Dr. Adrian Owen. Her research explores neuropsychological outcomes after cardiac surgery, with interests in cognitive neuroscience, critical care, and brain health. At Creyos, she supports scientific validity, health technology, and ongoing research.