Purpose of the Scale

The aim of this particular scale is to measure the presence of psychological psychopathology.

Scale Analysis

The Symptom Checklist [SCL-90-R] was developed by Derogatis, Leonard, and Ronald in 1973 and consists of 90 items describing psychological, behavioral, and somatic categories. The scale is divided into 9 subscales:
Somatization
Obsessive-Compulsive
Interpersonal Sensitivity (9 items)
Depression
Hostility
Phobic Anxiety
Paranoid Ideation
Psychoticism
Anxiety
Additionally, three indices are derived:
Positive Symptom Total (PST)
Positive Symptom Distress Index (PSDI)
Global Severity Index (GSI)

Scoring and Statistical Analysis

Scoring is done using a 5-point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). The final score is calculated by summing the responses, yielding a total ranging from 0 to 360. Higher scores indicate more severe psychological distress.

Validity and Reliability

The scale has demonstrated satisfactory criterion validity and has been translated into Greek by Dontias, Karastergiou, and Manos in 1991. The internal consistency index (Cronbach’s alpha) showed excellent reliability at 0.97.

References

Foreign Literature
Derogatis, L. R., & Cleary, P. A. (1977). Confirmation of the dimensional structure of the SCL‐90: A study in construct validation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 33(4), 981–989.
Derogatis, L. R., & Lipman, R. S. (1973). Scale – Preliminary Report. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 9.
Hoffmann, N. G., & Overall, P. B. (1978). Factor structure of the SCL-90 in a psychiatric population. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46(6), 1187.
Greek Literature
Dontias, S., Karastergiou, A., & Manos, N. (1991). Standardization of the Symptom Checklist-90-R in a Greek population. Psychiatry, 2(1), 42–48.
Tsimpiris, A., Triantafyllidou, S., & Anagnostopoulos, F. (2020). Study of psychopathological factors and dental history in relation to the occurrence of dental phobia. Archives of Hellenic Medicine, 37(1).