Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
A brief anxiety-symptom screening measure, not a stand-alone diagnosis.
Questionnaire The format describes how observations are obtained, not an evidence rating.
What it measures
Anxiety symptoms over the past 2 weeks evaluated for identifying probable generalized anxiety disorder and assessing symptom severity.
What people do
The self-report questionnaire has seven items asking how often the respondent has been bothered by each problem over the past 2 weeks, rated from 0 (Not at all) to 3 (Nearly every day). Use the specified version and recall instructions rather than an informal adaptation.
What the scores mean
Summing the seven items yields a 0 to 21 total score; in the 2006 validation study, scores of 5, 10 and 15 represented mild, moderate and severe anxiety symptom levels, with a cut point of 10 or greater used to identify probable cases for further evaluation. Raising a threshold generally exchanges sensitivity for specificity; a total does not explain why symptoms occur.
This explains the logic of a score. It does not supply a test form, individual result or administration manual.
Development and versions
Robert Spitzer, Kurt Kroenke, Janet Williams and Bernd Löwe published the development study in 2006.
Evidence: (Spitzer et al., 2006); (Spielman et al., 2020)
Reliability and validity evidence
The US primary-care study included 2,740 questionnaire respondents and 965 professional interviews. A cut point of 10 or greater achieved 89% sensitivity and 82% specificity there. The study also found associations with functional impairment.
Evidence belongs to a version, sample and interpretation. Read the source notes for what was actually inspected.
Evidence: (Spitzer et al., 2006); (Spielman et al., 2020)
Where it is used
Screening and symptom-severity research, with assessment beyond the score when decisions concern care.
Limits and common misreadings
- Accuracy is not a universal property detached from setting.
- Anxiety and depressive symptoms can co-occur.
- An altered translation or recall period needs evidence.
Read an example
Original teaching example
In a fictional clinic audit, two screening rules produce different numbers of referrals. The relevant question is how many true and false classifications each produces against an independent assessment, not which gives the larger average score.
Constructed for learning; this is not a result from the instrument’s validation study.
Access and permission
Standard GAD-7 forms were made publicly available alongside the PHQ family for clinical and research use; confirm current distribution terms for software or modified versions. No questionnaire responses or clinical scores are collected here.
Textbook connection
Related contextPsychology 2e: 15.1 What Are Psychological Disorders?
Conceptual context; the instrument-specific sources in this profile provide the primary evidence.
Related measures
Read a measure critically · Explore score examples · Review research methods
Sources and inspection notes
Checked October 22, 2026. An inspection date is not a publication date. Publisher information is not presented as independent validation; abstract-only and indexed-excerpt access are identified below.
- Spielman, R. M., Jenkins, W. J., & Lovett, M. D. (2020). Psychology 2e. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/15-1-what-are-psychological-disordersTextbook: conceptual context
Conceptual context; the instrument-specific sources in this profile provide the primary evidence.
- Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., & Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092–1097. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.166.10.1092Consulted sourcePrimary research: indexed abstract
US primary-care development sample, 0–21 scale, cut point of 10 and interview comparison inspected; no universal accuracy or optimal cutoff inferred.