Brief Description

PSYCHLOPS is a self-completed questionnaire designed to capture an individual’s psychological difficulties as described in their own words. It consists of open-ended questions (e.g., “What is the problem that bothers you the most?”) and asks respondents to rate them on an intensity scale. The PSYCHLOPS Kids version has been adapted for children aged 7–13 years and includes both quantitative and qualitative responses, allowing children to highlight the issues they consider most important.

Purpose

PSYCHLOPS is designed as a client-generated tool to record personal problems and assess change during therapy or counseling. The Kids version allows for capturing children’s perspectives on their concerns and helps evaluate therapeutic progress through modalities such as dramatherapy.

Scoring Method

Participants describe up to two problems and rate their intensity on a scale from 0 to 5. Follow-up questions assess the impact of the problem on their functioning and well-being. The total PSYCHLOPS score is derived from three domains: Problem, Function, and Wellbeing. The maximum score is 20 and is used to measure changes between pre- and post-treatment assessments.

Validity

PSYCHLOPS demonstrates good construct and concurrent validity: changes in scores are correlated with subjective ratings of improvement and with other tools such as CORE-OM and HADS (Spearman’s rho approx. 0.47–0.61). In the Kids version, correlations with the SDQ showed that PSYCHLOPS Kids had a higher sensitivity to change in the “problem” domain compared to a standardized scale (SDQ).

Reliability

Internal consistency for the overall score ranges from Cronbach’s alpha = 0.75 to 0.83, with good test–retest reliability (ICC ≈ 0.70). The Kids version showed moderate to good reliability and measurable responsiveness (effect size ≈ 0.51) after dramatherapy interventions.

Data Analysis and Use

Each response can be quantitatively assessed (scores in each domain), while the open-ended responses enable qualitative analysis to identify issues important to the user. Data can be used to monitor change during and after therapy and may be supported by statistical analysis (effect size, correlations with other tools). The Kids version is particularly useful in encouraging children’s participation in the evaluation process.

References

Ashworth, M., Shepherd, M., Christey, J., Matthews, V., Wright, K., Parmentier, H., Robinson, S., & Godfrey, E. (2004). A client-centred psychometric instrument: the development of ‘PSYCHLOPS’ (Psychological Outcome Profiles).
Ashworth, M. et al. (2005). Measuring mental health outcomes in primary care: the psychometric properties of a new patient‑generated outcome measure, PSYCHLOPS.
Godfrey, E., Aubrey, M., Crockford, S., Haythorne, D., Kordowicz, M., & Ashworth, M. (2019). The development and testing of PSYCHLOPS Kids: a new child‑centred outcome measure.