ArticleInternational journal of methods in psychiatric research2012
Validity study of the K6 scale as a measure of moderate mental distress based on mental health treatment need and utilization.
Article in International journal of methods in psychiatric research, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05199415 (Fulfillment Center Intervention Study as Part of The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Center for Work, Health and Wellbeing), which is not on this map. Cited by 454 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Fulfillment Center Intervention Study as Part of The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Center for Work, Health and Wellbeing
Who cites it
454 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 920 citations in OpenAlex.
- Consistency as the Currency in Psychological Measures: A Reliability Generalization Meta-Analysis of Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10 and K-6).Depression and anxiety · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of a Participatory Voice Intervention on Psychological Well-Being Among Warehouse Workers: Results From the Fulfillment Center Intervention Study, United States, 2021‒2023.American journal of public health · 2026Trial
- Addressing the knowledge and recruitment gap in Alzheimer's disease and precision medicine research among Native people: an innovative randomized controlled trial.Ethnicity & health · 2025Trial
- Testing an Intervention to Improve Health Care Worker Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Structural validity and measurement invariance of the Japanese version of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6): an item response theory analysis.Annals of medicine · 2026Article
- The Kessler 6 psychological distress scale (K6) in swedish: a psychometric study of reliability, factor structure and measurement invariance in a large population-based sample.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Asian American Adults: Findings from the 2021 California Health Interview Survey.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2026Article
- Adverse childhood experiences and neurodevelopmental disorder traits: A nationwide cross-sectional study.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2026Article
- Childhood Maltreatment and Psychological Distress Among Adolescents and Young Adults Living with HIV in Zimbabwe.Journal of child & adolescent trauma · 2026Article
- Sicker at all ages? Two decades of changing disease histories and mortality in the United States.International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Screening for Psychiatric Disorders in Dermatological Settings: A Review of Clinically Useful Assessment Tools.Annals of dermatology · 2026Review
- Psychological distress and unmet mental health needs of low-income food assistance recipients who smoke.Psychology, health & medicine · 2026Article
- Psychological distress in single fathers and mothers - a Swedish population-based study.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2026Article
- Trajectories of Mother-Child Closeness and Child Behavioural and Emotional Outcomes in Families of Children With Intellectual Disabilities.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2026Article
- Article
- Relative Burden of Social Determinants of Health on Diverse Populations of Health Resources and Services Administration Health Centers.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Differential roles of sense of coherence components in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic in a nationwide survey of public health center directors in Japan.Discover mental health · 2026Article
- Provider Mental Health and Telehealth Utilization During COVID-19: A Cross-sectional Survey of Providers at Clinics Treating Urban American Indian and Alaska Native Peoples.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Violence Victimisation and Mental Health Distress Among Adolescent Girls Living with HIV in Southern Africa: Does Social Protection Help?AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Affected Others of Problem Gambling: Prevalence and Health Associations Across Relationship Types - A Population-Representative Swedish Study.Journal of gambling studies · 2026Article
394 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The widely-used Kessler K6 non-specific distress scale screens for severe mental illness defined as a K6 score ≥ 13, estimated to afflict about 6% of US adults. The K6, as currently used, fails to capture individuals struggling with more moderate mental distress that nonetheless warrants mental health intervention. The current study determined a cutoff criterion on the K6 scale indicative of moderate mental distress based on mental health treatment need and assessed the validity of this criterion by comparing participants with identified moderate and severe mental distress on relevant clinical, impairment, and risk behavior measures. Data were analyzed from 50,880 adult participants in the 2007 California Health Interview Survey. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified K6 ≥ 5 as the optimal lower threshold cut-point indicative of moderate mental distress. Based on the K6, 8.6% of California adults had serious mental distress and another 27.9% had moderate mental distress. Correlates of moderate and serious mental distress were similar. Respondents with moderate mental distress had rates of mental health care utilization, impairment, substance use and other risks lower than respondents with serious mental distress and greater than respondents with none/low mental distress. The findings support expanded use and analysis of the K6 scale in quantifying and examining correlates of mental distress at a moderate, yet still clinically relevant, level.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.