The first psychometric assessments
Psychological assessment tools are numerous and serve different purposes. They make it possible to identify the presence of one or more psychological characteristics in an individual. The first psychometric assessments were developed after 1900 at the request of the authorities in order to evaluate the intelligence of children. The question at that time was which children should continue their studies and which ones should be sent to work.
Different assessments for different needs
Human resources departments use them to identify the presence of a particular characteristic in a person. The results will provide useful information to place the worker in an environment compatible with some of the characteristics identified during the assessment.
Psychological tests, rating scales and diagnosis
These terms overlap: a rating scale can be part of a psychological test. The key distinction is between the instrument used and the conclusions its results can support.
Psychological test
A standardised instrument that explores an ability or an aspect of psychological functioning through tasks, questions or structured situations. A test does not necessarily have a diagnostic purpose.
Clinical rating scale
A set of items producing a score to measure a dimension or the severity of symptoms and track change over time. The BDI-13, STAI, LSAS and Y-BOCS serve this type of purpose.
Diagnostic scale or assessment instrument
Can support identification of a disorder when validated for that purpose, using the appropriate version and population. The word “diagnostic” does not mean that a score can establish a diagnosis by itself.
On this page: tools for assessment and monitoring, not automatic diagnosis. Rosenberg and Coopersmith explore self-esteem, Rathus assertiveness and Young schemas. They do not independently diagnose a personality disorder. The Y-BOCS measures the severity of obsessions and compulsions; it does not by itself confirm OCD.
These tools can be used within different approaches, including CBT, according to the person’s needs.
Further information: psychological testing and assessment (American Psychological Association) and clinical measures and diagnostic limitations (American Psychiatric Association).
Why qualify the symptoms?
Similar symptoms can have different causes. The psychologist explores them in an interview, considering their duration, impact and context. A psychometric assessment can help clarify a hypothesis without independently establishing a diagnosis. Treatment decisions draw on the assessment as a whole.
Why quantify the symptoms?
Because we need to know if the symptoms are mildly, moderately or massively present in the person. The evaluation scales also make it possible during and at the end of therapy to assess the progress, regression, maintenance, recurrence or disappearance of the symptoms. Once again, they are an aid to reasoning.
What are the limitations of these assessment tools?
There are several limitations, including difficulties with understanding, interpretation and the accuracy of responses during an assessment. It is therefore important not to rely on a single assessment, to use different tools when appropriate and to remember that an assessment or questionnaire does not provide an absolute truth. These tools help inform the clinician’s decisions.
Psychological assessments
Beck Depression Inventory: BDI-13
Instrument type: Self-report depressive symptom scale: identifying difficulties and monitoring change.
Thirteen groups of statements explore depressive symptoms. One answer per group, scored from 0 to 3, gives a total from 0 to 39.
Strengths : Brief and useful for identifying difficulties and monitoring change during treatment.
Limitations : A score alone cannot diagnose depression and may reflect context or other difficulties. The cutoffs for the 21-item BDI-II do not apply to BDI-13. The suicidal-thoughts response needs attention independently of the total.
Working English translation. This wording has not been separately validated and is not presented as the publisher's validated English form. Use it as a discussion aid with your psychologist; do not apply diagnostic cutoffs or population norms to this translation.
Complete the questionnaire
For each group, choose the statement that best describes how you have felt over the past week, including today. Choose one statement per group. This score is not a sufficient assessment of suicide risk.
Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale: LSAS
Instrument type: Social anxiety rating scale: fear and avoidance.
Twenty-four situations are rated for both fear and avoidance. The original clinician-administered scale and the LSAS-SR self-report version are distinct forms.
Strengths : Identifies difficult social situations and tracks fear and avoidance separately.
Limitations : Avoidance and lack of opportunity to encounter a situation can complicate ratings. Score guidelines do not replace a diagnostic interview.
Working English translation. This wording has not been separately validated and is not presented as the publisher's validated English form. Use it as a discussion aid with your psychologist; do not apply diagnostic cutoffs or population norms to this translation.
Complete the questionnaire
Think about the past week. For each of the 24 situations, rate both fear and avoidance. If the situation did not occur, estimate how you would have reacted. Fear and avoidance are added separately; no diagnostic cutoff is applied.
State-Trait Anxiety Inventory: STAI, Form Y
Instrument type: Self-report state and trait anxiety scales.
Two sets of 20 statements distinguish current anxiety (state) from a usual tendency to experience anxiety (trait). Each has its own score from 20 to 80.
Strengths : Separates a current reaction from a more enduring tendency and helps track change in a defined context.
Limitations : State scores vary with the assessment setting. Trait scores may also reflect distress or depressive symptoms. Interpretation requires appropriate population norms.
Your position on the bell curve
After all 20 answers, a point shows your position on a theoretical bell curve for each scale (state or trait). By default, two charts compare the same score with the male and female adult references in the French table supplied by the practice. You may select one reference with your psychologist. These are alternative comparisons, not the bounds of a confidence interval.
This visual reference is intended to offer some orientation despite limited precision, rather than leave the raw score without a comparison. The exact position is uncertain: this is a working English translation that has not been separately validated. The size of the uncertainty cannot be quantified and should not be assumed to be small. This is not a validated English-language percentile, a diagnosis, or an exact population ranking. These adult references should not automatically be applied to adolescents or hospital inpatients.
Understanding raw scores and standardised T scores
Each scale has a raw score from 20 to 80. A standardised T score is a separate conversion using a reference table appropriate for the questionnaire version, language and population. T scores have a reference mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. Under a normal model, T = 60 is approximately the 84th percentile.
This questionnaire is a working English translation. To provide a visual reference, you can select a French adult comparison group from the table supplied by the practice. The result can then display an illustrative point on the curve. This is an exploratory comparison, not a validated English-language percentile. The uncertainty arising from the translation and reference-group differences cannot be quantified from the available information. Discuss it with a clinician.
Working English translation. This wording has not been separately validated and is not presented as the publisher's validated English form. Use it as a discussion aid with your psychologist; do not apply diagnostic cutoffs or population norms to this translation.
Complete the STAI: State
Indicate how you feel right now. Choose one answer for each statement. Do not reverse any answers yourself; the calculation does this automatically.
Working English translation. This wording has not been separately validated and is not presented as the publisher's validated English form. Use it as a discussion aid with your psychologist; do not apply diagnostic cutoffs or population norms to this translation.
Complete the STAI: Trait
Indicate how you generally feel. Choose one answer for each statement. Do not reverse any answers yourself; the calculation does this automatically. This score is separate from the state score.
Rathus Assertiveness Schedule
Instrument type: Assertiveness questionnaire.
Thirty statements explore self-expression, standing up for oneself and interpersonal behaviour. There are six response choices without a neutral option; totals range from −90 to +90.
Strengths : Provides practical starting points for assertiveness work and monitoring change.
Limitations : Some wording is dated and culturally sensitive. A high score does not guarantee respectful assertiveness; some behaviours may reflect aggression. Zero is not a universal norm.
Working English translation. This wording has not been separately validated and is not presented as the publisher's validated English form. Use it as a discussion aid with your psychologist; do not apply diagnostic cutoffs or population norms to this translation.
Understanding the score: the total ranges from −90 to +90. A higher score generally reflects more self-reported assertive behaviours. No validated ideal range is defined here, and zero is not a target to reach. The total alone cannot classify someone as assertive or aggressive.
Interpret the response profile, not just the total. The Rathus score is the sum of all 30 responses after reversing the relevant items, not an average. Extreme or opposing responses may strongly affect the total or cancel one another out. A result near zero can therefore conceal substantial difficulties in particular situations. Responses should be examined individually, alongside the context and clinical interview.
Complete the questionnaire
Indicate how characteristic each statement is of your usual behaviour. There is no neutral response. The calculation automatically accounts for items scored in opposite directions.
Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory
Instrument type: Self-esteem inventory covering several areas of life.
The French long form used here contains 58 statements covering general, family, social and work-related self-esteem, plus a separate self-presentation index. The self-esteem total ranges from 0 to 50 and excludes that separate index.
Strengths : Explores several life domains and helps discuss differences between them.
Limitations : This French long form is distinct from the 25-item short adult form. Transcription and corrections to the supplied scoring file do not amount to a new psychometric validation. No percentiles are applied without documented norms. The self-presentation index does not prove deception.
Working English translation. This wording has not been separately validated and is not presented as the publisher's validated English form. Use it as a discussion aid with your psychologist; do not apply diagnostic cutoffs or population norms to this translation.
Complete the questionnaire
Answer according to how you usually see yourself. Choose one answer for each statement. This is a translation of the 58-item French long form supplied by the practice, including the scoring-direction corrections to items 8 and 10. It is not the 25-item short adult form.
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
Instrument type: Global self-esteem scale.
Ten statements assess global self-esteem. This presentation uses scores from 1 to 4, automatically reversing the five negative items; the total ranges from 10 to 40.
Strengths : Quick, easy to repeat and useful for discussing perceived self-worth.
Limitations : Does not distinguish life domains or directly measure competence or confidence in specific situations. A low score is not a diagnosis. Cutoffs for scoring from 0 to 30 cannot be applied directly to scoring from 10 to 40.
Complete the questionnaire
For each statement, indicate your agreement based on your general feelings about yourself. Answer spontaneously; negative items are automatically reverse scored.
Young Schema Questionnaire: YSQ-L3
Instrument type: Schema questionnaire to inform clinical formulation.
This long form contains 232 statements covering 18 early maladaptive schemas. It helps identify recurring emotional and interpersonal themes.
Strengths : Provides a detailed profile to inform clinical formulation and identify themes for schema therapy.
Limitations : Lengthy and sensitive to emotional state. Results need discussion with the therapist and do not define a fixed personality. Schema scores should not be added into an overall diagnostic total.
Working English translation. This wording has not been separately validated and is not presented as the publisher's validated English form. Use it as a discussion aid with your psychologist; do not apply diagnostic cutoffs or population norms to this translation.
Complete the questionnaire
Read each statement and indicate how well it describes you. Respond according to your emotional feelings rather than an ideal answer. Take the time you need and discuss the profile with your therapist.
232 responses. This scoring follows the French YSQ-L3 file used in the practice: only ratings 4, 5 and 6 are added within each schema. Scores are not converted into clinical norms.
Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale: Y-BOCS
Instrument type: Clinician-rated OCD severity scale. This page provides a rating-entry calculator.
The original scale has 10 items scored from 0 to 4, giving a total from 0 to 40. It assesses the severity of obsessions and compulsions in a clinician-administered interview.
Strengths : Structures assessment of symptom burden and helps monitor progress during treatment.
Limitations : Cannot by itself establish an OCD diagnosis. The original scale, self-report forms and Y-BOCS-II are not interchangeable; Y-BOCS-II uses different scoring. An interview is needed to clarify some symptoms.
Understanding the total out of 40
Each clinician-assigned rating ranges from 0 to 4. The total adds all ten ratings: five for obsessions and five for compulsions, giving a score from 0 to 40.
| Score | Indicative severity |
|---|---|
| 0–7 | Subclinical level |
| 8–15 | Mild symptoms |
| 16–23 | Moderate symptoms |
| 24–31 | Severe symptoms |
| 32–40 | Extreme symptoms |
Conventional severity classification for the original Y-BOCS, as presented by Stanford Medicine. These categories are not diagnostic cutoffs. A score alone neither confirms nor rules out OCD. Some studies propose different severity benchmarks; category boundaries are not absolute. This table does not apply to Y-BOCS-II scored out of 50. Source: Stanford Medicine
The ten dimensions are explained below using discussion prompts written for this page. They clarify the interview but are not a validated version of the Y-BOCS self-report questionnaire.
Open the clinical rating calculator
For clinician-entered ratings following an interview using the authorised official form. The discussion prompts identify the subject of each rating. To assign a score from 0 to 4, the clinician must use the scoring anchors in the authorised official form. Resistance concerns effort, whereas control concerns the actual ability to interrupt symptoms. Do not choose ratings without that interview. This is not a self-report questionnaire.
The menus provide brief paraphrased guidance based on the original Y-BOCS ratings (0 to 4). They do not replace the full instructions or clinical judgement. Resistance concerns effort, whereas control concerns success. For item 8, also consider anxiety during rituals if preventing them does not cause greater distress.