I'm struggling with filling in the GAD-7 questionnaire

Ross1975
Ross1975 Online Community Member Posts: 460 Pioneering
in Autism and neurodiversity

I'm trying to fill in the GAD-7 questionnaire for an ADHD assessment. All of the questions are asking 'Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by (insert symptom here)', should I base my answers on how often I experienced the symptom itself even if it didn't bother me, or how often the symptom actually bothered me?

I did email HealthHarmonie Minds which are my provider and asked them this a couple of days ago but I still haven't heard back from them.

Here is an example of the GAD 7 questionnaire:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) - Mental Health Screening - National HIV Curriculum

Comments

  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Online Community Member Posts: 17,338 Championing

    Hi @Ross1975 - it seems like they're literally asking 'how often have you been bothered….'

    This rather than how often have you experienced any given problem.

    I'm not sure what relevance this form for 'Generalised Anxiety Disorder' has to ADHD.

  • Anhedonia
    Anhedonia Online Community Member Posts: 63 Contributor

    From my experience, in clinical settings "how often were you bothered by…" typically means how often did you experience these symptoms. Of course the wording is not accessible or user-friendly at all though.

    Remember the scale is designed to capture clinically relevant symptoms, so 'bothered by' is meant to exclude fleeting and normal emotions and brief instances that everyone experiences, that come and go without persistence.

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