Depression Questionnaire: 30 Survey Questions, Validated Scales and Scoring

A depression questionnaire is a structured set of questions about how often a person has felt common depression symptoms over a set period. Typical items cover low mood, lost interest, poor sleep, and fatigue. The tool screens for possible depression and tracks severity, but only a qualified clinician can diagnose it.

Researchers, clinics, schools, and HR teams all use these tools, but for very different reasons. Primary care clinics screen patients. Universities measure student wellbeing, and research teams track symptom trends across a population.

In this blog, we’ll break down validated instruments, PHQ-9 scoring, 30 adaptable depression survey questions, and the safety steps every survey needs.

If you or someone you know is in crisis: In the US, call or text 988 or chat online with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It is free, confidential, and available 24/7. In a life-threatening emergency, call 911.

What is a depression questionnaire?

A depression questionnaire is a standardized list of questions that measures how often and how severely a person has felt depressive symptoms. It uses a fixed recall window, usually the past one or two weeks. The result is a score you can compare over time.

Most validated tools map their items to the symptoms clinicians use to identify major depressive disorder (MDD). MDD is the clinical term for persistent depression that disrupts daily life. Those symptoms include the following.

• Mood: Feeling down, sad, or hopeless most of the day.
• Interest: Little interest or pleasure in activities the person used to enjoy.
• Physical changes: Sleep problems, appetite or weight changes, and low energy.
• Thinking: Trouble concentrating, guilt, or feelings of worthlessness.
• Behavior: Moving or speaking noticeably slowly, or feeling restless.
• Safety: Thoughts of death or self-harm.

The recall window matters. Feeling sad after a bad week is ordinary. A depression screening questionnaire looks for the same symptoms on most days for two weeks or longer.

How is a depression questionnaire different from a diagnosis?

A questionnaire flags risk; a diagnosis confirms a condition. The table below separates four tools people often confuse.

A high score on any self-report depression questionnaire is a signal to talk with a doctor or mental health professional. It is not a label.

Which validated depression questionnaires are most widely used?

The PHQ-9 is the most common depression screening questionnaire in US primary care, but it is one of several validated options. The right depression scale depends on the age group, the setting, and who fills it in: the person or a clinician.

Access differs too. The BDI-II carries a copyright and requires a paid license per use. The PHQ-9 and the revised CES-D are generally treated as public domain, which is one reason they appear in so many studies.

How do the main depression scales compare?

This comparison covers the instruments you will see most often in US clinics and research.

What is the PHQ-9 depression questionnaire?

The PHQ-9 depression questionnaire asks how often a person has felt each of nine symptoms over the last two weeks. Each answer earns 0 (“not at all”) to 3 (“nearly every day”) points, so totals range from 0 to 27.

Its validation study surveyed 6,000 primary care and obstetrics-gynecology patients. At a score of 10 or higher, the PHQ-9 showed 88% sensitivity and 88% specificity for major depression compared with interviews by mental health professionals. Sensitivity is the share of people with depression the tool correctly flags. Specificity is the share of people without depression it correctly clears.

What is the PHQ-2?

The PHQ-2 is a two-question version of the PHQ-9 that clinics use as a quick first pass.

• Items: Little interest or pleasure in doing things, and feeling down, depressed, or hopeless.
• Scoring: Each item runs from 0 to 3, so totals range from 0 to 6.
• Next step: Anyone who screens positive gets the full PHQ-9 or a clinical interview.

Which questionnaires fit specific groups?

Some populations need a tool built for them.

• Adolescents: The PHQ-A adapts the PHQ for teens, and the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) and Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) cover younger age groups.
• Older adults: The Geriatric Depression Scale uses simple yes/no answers, and clinicians also use it with people who have mild to moderate dementia.
• New and expecting parents: The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale is built for pregnancy and the months after birth, and the USPSTF names it as an option for this group.
• Clinician-rated settings: The HAM-D and MADRS rely on a trained interviewer’s judgment rather than self-report.
• Diverse language groups: Use translated versions that someone has validated in that language and culture. A direct translation can shift an item’s meaning.

How is the PHQ-9 depression questionnaire scored?

PHQ-9 scoring adds the nine item scores into a single total from 0 to 27, then places that total in a severity band. The process takes a minute once responses are in.

1. Score each item from 0 to 3.
   “Not at all” is 0, “several days” is 1, “more than half the days” is 2, and “nearly every day” is 3.
2. Add the nine item scores.
   The total ranges from 0 to 27.
3. Assign the severity band.
   Use the cut points from the original validation study, shown in the table below.
4. Check item 9 separately.
   Item 9 asks about thoughts of death or self-harm. Any answer above “not at all” calls for prompt follow-up by a clinician, whatever the total score.
5. Repeat to track change.
   Clinicians re-administer the PHQ-9 during treatment to see whether symptoms are improving.

The “next step” column reflects common clinical practice, not a rule for self-treatment. Only a licensed professional should act on a score.

When should you use a depression screening questionnaire?

Use a depression screening questionnaire only when three conditions are in place. The setting then shapes everything else.

• Clear purpose: You know whether you are screening individuals or measuring group trends.
• Qualified reviewer: A trained person reads the results and acts on them.
• Follow-up plan: Anyone who screens positive gets a referral, resources, or a clinical conversation.

In primary care and health systems

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends screening all adults for depression, including pregnant and postpartum people and adults 65 and older. It also recommends screening adolescents ages 12 to 18. Clinics typically run the PHQ-2 or PHQ-9 at annual visits and before key appointments.

In research and population studies

Researchers use the CES-D or PHQ-9 to measure how common depression is and how it changes. US federal data show why this work matters.

• Adults: 21.0 million US adults, or 8.3%, had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.
• Adolescents: 20.1% of US adolescents ages 12 to 17 had a major depressive episode in the same period.
• Treatment gap: Only 40.6% of those adolescents received treatment, compared with 61.0% of adults.

In schools and universities

Picture a student dealing with bullying, falling grades, and peer pressure. A depression survey for students can show how widespread those struggles are and whether students know where to find campus support. A broader student mental health survey adds stress, loneliness, and help-seeking.

In the workplace

Now picture an employee laid off from a long-held job who stops sleeping well and starts to feel like a failure. Workplace surveys can show whether many people feel this strain, but they should never single anyone out.

• Do: Run anonymous employee wellbeing survey questions and report results only by team or company.
• Do: Point everyone to the employee assistance program (EAP), a free counseling benefit many US employers offer.
• Don’t: Screen named employees for depression or share individual answers with managers.

30 Depression survey questions for a questionnaire

These 30 depression survey questions suit research, wellbeing, and educational surveys. They are not a validated clinical instrument. Need a score a clinician can interpret? Use the PHQ-9 or another validated depression scale instead of, or alongside, these items.

Symptom and mood questions (1 to 16)

Ask respondents: “Over the last two weeks, how often have you experienced the following?” Offer four options: Not at all, Several days, More than half the days, Nearly every day.

1. Everyday tasks have taken much longer than usual.
2. I have had trouble concentrating on reading, work, or conversations.
3. I have felt that I have no future to look forward to.
4. I have struggled to make simple decisions.
5. I have felt sad, as if there is no joy in my life.
6. I have lost interest in things that used to matter to me.
7. I have felt guilty about most of the things I do.
8. I have felt irritable or angry more than usual.
9. I have felt tired or had very little energy.
10. I have felt that everything I do ends in failure.
11. I have had trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or I have slept too much.
12. My weight has changed noticeably without trying.
13. My appetite has dropped or increased noticeably.
14. I have found it hard to trust the people around me.
15. I have had trouble in my relationships at home or at work.
16. I have had thoughts that I would be better off dead, or of hurting myself.

Include question 16 only if you have a response protocol in place. Show crisis resources right away to anyone who picks an answer other than “Not at all.” If the survey is not anonymous, make sure a qualified person can follow up.

Impact and help-seeking questions (17 to 23)

These questions measure how symptoms affect daily life and whether people can reach help. They give you the context that symptom items alone cannot.

Support and resource questions (24 to 30)

These questions show whether people feel safe asking for help and which resources they would actually use.

• Question 24: How supportive do you find the people around you when you are struggling? (5-point scale from not at all to extremely supportive)
• Question 25: How comfortable would you feel taking time off for your mental health? (5-point scale from very uncomfortable to very comfortable)
• Question 26: How often do you do something that helps you recharge? (Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often)
• Question 27: How would you rate your overall stress level right now? (0 to 10 scale)
• Question 28: How confident are you that your answers to this survey will stay confidential? (5-point scale from not at all to completely confident)
• Question 29: Which resources would help you most? (Counseling, Flexible schedule, Peer support, Online tools, Other)
• Question 30: Is there anything else you would like to share about your wellbeing? (Open text)

Question 30 is an open-ended question. It often surfaces the reasons behind the numbers, such as a specific workload problem or a gap in campus services.

How do you design a depression survey responsibly?

A responsible depression survey protects respondents first and collects data second. Mental health questions carry real risk, so build the safety plan before you write a single question.

• Purpose: Decide whether you are screening individuals or measuring group trends. Individual screening belongs in a clinical setting.
• Instrument choice: Use a validated tool when you need a comparable score. Write custom items only for context and help-seeking.
• Consent: Explain why you are asking, who sees the answers, and that every question is optional.
• Anonymity: Run anonymous surveys for workplace and campus research, and say clearly what you can and cannot see.
• Safety protocol: Show 988 and local resources on every page that touches self-harm, and name who reviews flagged responses and how fast.
• Ethics review: Get institutional review board (IRB) approval for academic or clinical research. An IRB is a committee that reviews studies to protect participants.
• Pilot test: Try the survey with a small group to catch confusing wording or a tone that feels clinical and cold.

Keep the survey short. Long mental health surveys raise drop-off and fatigue, which hurts data quality and the respondent experience.

What are common mistakes with depression questionnaires?

Most problems come from treating a depression questionnaire as a diagnosis or skipping the follow-up plan. These six errors show up most often.

1. Treating a score as a diagnosis.
   A positive screen means “evaluate further,” not “this person has depression.”
2. Asking about self-harm without a protocol.
   Collecting suicidal ideation data that no one reviews creates real risk for respondents.
3. Editing validated items.
   Changing the wording or the response scale of the PHQ-9 breaks its validated cut points.
4. Using adult tools for children.
   Choose age-appropriate instruments such as the PHQ-A or CDI.
5. Identifying employees by name.
   Named workplace screening damages trust and raises privacy and legal concerns.
6. Ignoring the recall window.
   Mixing “past week” and “past two weeks” items makes results hard to compare.

How QuestionPro helps you run a depression questionnaire

QuestionPro helps research, healthcare, and education teams turn a paper depression questionnaire into a secure online survey with built-in safety routing. The most useful capability for this topic is conditional logic.

Skip logic and branching can route anyone who flags a self-harm item to a page with crisis resources. That page can list 988 and local services. You can also send low-risk respondents past high-distress follow-ups, which keeps the survey shorter and kinder.

Three other capabilities matter for depression surveys.

• Healthcare compliance: QuestionPro’s healthcare survey solutions support HIPAA-compliant surveys, though clients still share responsibility for handling health data correctly. HIPAA is the US law that protects health information.
• Eligibility checks: Add screening questions to confirm age or consent before the symptom items appear.
• Group-level reporting: Real-time dashboards in QuestionPro’s online survey software let you present results by team, class, or clinic rather than by person.

Final thoughts on choosing a depression questionnaire

The best depression questionnaire is the one that fits your purpose and comes with a plan for what happens next. Use the PHQ-9 or another validated scale when you need a score that clinicians trust. Add custom questions when you need context on impact, stigma, and access to care.

Whatever you choose, remember that the questionnaire only opens the conversation. A score should lead to a caring follow-up, a referral, or a better support program, never to a label. Build the safety steps in from day one, and the data you collect can help people get care sooner.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)