%0 Journal Article
%T The symptom checklist-27-plus (SCL-27-plus): a modern conceptualization of a traditional screening instrument
%A Hardt
%A Jochen
%J GMS Psycho-Social-Medicine
%D 2008
%I 
%X Background: The symptom checklist SCL-27-plus is a short, multidimensional screening instrument for mental health problems. It contains five scales on current symptoms: depressive, vegetative, agoraphobic, and sociophobic symptoms and pain; a global severity index (GSI-27); a lifetime assessment for depressive symptoms; and a screening question for suicidality.Method: A reformulated version of screening items constituted a survey of n=374 students. Therefore, a total of 76 items was formulated and presented to the students within a questionnaire booklet, that could be filled out at home.Results: All scales of the SCL-27-plus showed good to satisfactory reliability (i.e. .90 ¡İ Cronbach¡¯s a ¡İ .70). The distributions of the scales were less skewed than in older versions of the symptom checklists and scale inter-correlations were lower. The scale ¡°symptoms of mistrust¡± could not be retained.Conclusion: The SCL-27-plus demonstrates a clear improvement over the SCL-27. Test-statistical properties were improved. In addition, the supplementation by a lifetime scale for depression and a screener for suicidality shall help the clinician as well as the epidemiologist.
%K SCL-27-plus
%K screening for mental health problems
%K reliability
%K suicidality
%U http://www.egms.de/en/journals/psm/2008-5/psm000053.shtml