Anxiety tests compared: GAD-7, PSWQ, Mini-SPIN and more
CareOps editorial team · · 6 min read
Mental wellness information and service guidance published by CareOps.
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Read our full editorial standards →‘Feeling anxious’ covers several different shapes. Constant worry about everything, anxiety that grows in front of other people, sudden waves of panic and worry about being ill are not the same. So it helps to choose an anxiety test based on **which kind of anxiety you want to understand**.
At a glance
- For how anxious you have been overall lately, use the GAD-7. For a first screen in under a minute, the GAD-2 fits.
- Whether you tend to worry a lot is the PSWQ, anxiety around other people is the Mini-SPIN and sudden attacks are the PDSS.
- If you worry that body symptoms mean serious illness, the Whiteley-7 looks at how strong that worry is.
What kinds of anxiety tests are there?
Anxiety self-tests fall broadly into tests of how anxious you are right now and tests of a specific kind of anxiety. Compare the number of questions, the period asked about and what each is for in the table below.
| Test | Questions and period | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| GAD-7 | 7 questions · past 2 weeks | Overall anxiety lately |
| GAD-2 | 2 questions · past 2 weeks | A quick first screen in under a minute |
| PSWQ | 16 questions · how you usually are | Whether you tend to worry a lot |
| Mini-SPIN | 3 questions · past week | Anxiety that grows around other people |
| PDSS-SR | 7 questions · past week | Sudden panic attacks and their aftermath |
| Whiteley-7 | 7 questions · how you usually are | Worry about being ill |
What do the GAD-7 and GAD-2 look at?
The GAD-7 asks in seven questions how often you have had anxiety symptoms over the past two weeks, such as nervousness, trouble stopping worry and restlessness. In the original study of US primary care patients (Spitzer et al., 2006), its cut point had 89% sensitivity and 82% specificity, and higher scores went along with more difficulty in daily functioning. The total runs from 0 to 21, and the result screen marks 5, 10 and 15 as the start of mild, moderate and severe.
Try a self-assessment without signing inAnxiety (GAD-7)How much anxiety and worry occupy your day. Answer the app’s questionnaire and see your result right away.Start the check →The GAD-2 is a short version asking only the first two GAD-7 questions. In a follow-up study (Kroenke et al., 2007), both the GAD-7 and GAD-2 performed well at screening for generalized anxiety, panic, social anxiety and post-traumatic stress. In that study, 41% of people with an anxiety disorder were not receiving any treatment. If you score 3 or more on the GAD-2, continue with the GAD-7 for a closer look.
Which test looks at a worrying temperament?
The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) measures not current symptoms but a tendency: how often, how intensely and how uncontrollably you usually worry, in 16 questions (Meyer et al., 1990). The total runs from 16 to 80, and the result screen shows under 40 as low worry, 40–59 as moderate and 60 or above as high. How to read your PSWQ result and handle worry is covered separately in a worrying personality.
Which tests cover social anxiety, panic and health anxiety?
- Mini-SPIN (social anxiety) — three questions about fearing embarrassment in front of others and avoiding those situations. In the original study (Connor et al., 2001), a score of 6 or more identified social anxiety with 88.7% sensitivity and 90.0% specificity. Try the Mini-SPIN
- PDSS-SR (panic) — seven questions on the past week's attack frequency, distress, worry about the next attack, avoidance and impact on daily life. Covered in detail in our panic disorder self-check.
- Whiteley-7 (health anxiety) — seven questions on worry about having a serious illness and attention drawn to body sensations. Try the Whiteley-7
How social anxiety shows up in daily life is covered in social anxiety, and why health worries are hard to settle is covered in health anxiety.
How can I use anxiety test results?
- Narrow from general to specific — check your overall anxiety with the GAD-7, then pick the next test based on where anxiety is strongest: worry, other people, attacks or your body.
- Note the time period — the same anxiety can score differently depending on whether a test asks about one week, two weeks or how you usually are.
- Repeat the same test — retaking it every few weeks shows whether practice or counseling is helping.
- Use the result to start a conversation — writing down when and in what situations anxiety grows, alongside the score, makes it far more useful in counseling.
Ways to cope in the moment are in our guide on coping with anxiety.
When to talk with a professional
If your anxiety score is moderate or higher, or anxiety is making you avoid more things and shaking your sleep, work or relationships, consider seeing a doctor or speaking with a mental health professional. Anxiety often improves with research-backed approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy.
You can also start by talking through, one step at a time, when the anxiety you found grows and what it leads you to avoid.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the GAD-7 enough as an anxiety test?
- The GAD-7 is widely used to look at overall anxiety lately. But if you are anxious mainly around other people, have sudden attacks or worry a lot about your body, adding a test for that kind of anxiety gives a clearer picture.
- My GAD-7 and PSWQ scores do not match.
- The two tests look at different things. The GAD-7 covers anxiety symptoms over the past two weeks, while the PSWQ covers a general tendency to worry. You may be fine lately yet still be someone who tends to worry, or the other way around.
- Does a high anxiety test score mean I have an anxiety disorder?
- A score alone does not mean an anxiety disorder. A screening test tells you whether something is worth looking into further, and whether it is an anxiety disorder is decided together with an interview. If your score is high and life feels hard, talk it over with a professional.
- When should I retake an anxiety test?
- For tests that ask about two weeks, such as the GAD-7, every two weeks to a month is enough. For tests about your usual tendency, such as the PSWQ, every few months is plenty. Watching the trend on the same test helps most.
Sources
- Spitzer et al. (2006), A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7, Archives of Internal Medicine
- Kroenke et al. (2007), Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection, Annals of Internal Medicine
- Meyer et al. (1990), Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Behaviour Research and Therapy
- Connor et al. (2001), Mini-SPIN: a brief screening assessment for generalized social anxiety disorder, Depression and Anxiety
- Houck et al. (2002), Reliability of the self-report version of the panic disorder severity scale, Depression and Anxiety
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