5-item simple measure of impaired functioning at work, home, and socially. ≈ 1 min to complete. Free with attribution.
WSAS (Work and Social Adjustment Scale) is a validated clinical instrument used to assess 5-item simple measure of impaired functioning at work, home, and socially.. It is most often used for 5-item simple measure of impaired functioning at work, home, and socially.. The instrument contains 5 items. Typical administration time is ≈ 1 min.
Source / attribution: Free to use with citation
5-item simple measure of impaired functioning at work, home, and socially. WSAS is part of standard practice in this setting because it provides a structured, replicable assessment that can be tracked over time and compared across patients or visits.
Like all screening or assessment instruments, WSAS is a structured aid — not a diagnostic test in isolation. Results should be interpreted alongside history, examination, and clinical context. Where a score crosses an actionable threshold, the next step is typically a more detailed clinical evaluation rather than a definitive diagnosis.
Answer all 5 items below to see your WSAS score and interpretation.
Each item is scored on a 9-point scale (0–8). Your score updates live as you answer.
All scoring runs in your browser. No data is sent anywhere — close the tab and the answers are gone.
Sum all 5 items scored 0-8. Total range 0-40. Higher scores = greater impairment.
Scoring notes: Sum all 5 items scored 0-8. Total range 0-40. Higher scores = greater impairment.
The cutoffs below are drawn from the published validation literature. Always interpret in clinical context.
| Score range | Band | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 0–9 | Minimal impairment | None |
| 10–20 | Moderate impairment | Consider intervention |
| 21–40 | Severe impairment | Active treatment |
This is an illustrative walkthrough, not a real patient. Follow the same four steps with your own answers — or use the live calculator at the top of this page.
Read each question and choose the response that best fits. Each response has a number next to it — that number is the item's score. The example below uses illustrative answers.
| # | Item | Example response | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Because of my problem, my ability to work is impaired | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Because of my problem, my home management (cleaning, tidying, shopping, cooking, looking after home/children, paying bills) is impaired | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Because of my problem, my social leisure activities (with other people such as parties, bars, clubs, outings, visits, dating, home entertaining) are impaired | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Because of my problem, my private leisure activities (done alone such as reading, gardening, collecting, sewing, walking alone) are impaired | 3 | 3 |
| 5 | Because of my problem, my ability to form and maintain close relationships with others, including those I live with, is impaired | 3 | 3 |
Add up all the item scores you noted in Step 1.
3 + 3 + 3 + 3 + 3 = 15
Find the row in the interpretation table whose range contains your total:
Total = 15 falls between 10 and 20 → Moderate impairment
Moderate impairment. Consider intervention
A score is one input alongside history and examination. WSAS supports clinical judgment — it does not replace it.
Psychometric figures are drawn from the validation literature and may vary across clinical populations and translations.
If WSAS doesn't fit your context, related instruments in self-efficacy include:
| Scale | Measures | Items | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| GSE | 10-item measure of general confidence in ability to cope with difficult demands in life. | 10 | ≈ 2 min |
| MBI-GS | 16-item measure of burnout in occupational settings with three subscales. | 16 | ≈ 5 min |
| OLBI | 16-item alternative burnout measure with exhaustion and disengagement subscales. | 16 | ≈ 5 min |
| PHQ-9 | Severity of depression | 9 | ≈ 3 minutes |
| GAD-7 | Severity of generalized anxiety | 7 | ≈ 2 minutes |
| AUDIT | 10-item WHO screening tool for hazardous alcohol consumption and dependence. | 10 | ≈ 3 min |
| CHA2DS2-VASc | Annual stroke risk in non-valvular atrial fibrillation | 8 | — |
| Glasgow Coma Scale | Level of consciousness after head injury | 3 | — |
WSAS (Work and Social Adjustment Scale) is a validated instrument that assesses impaired functioning at work, home, and socially. It is designed for clinicians, medical students, evidence-synthesis researchers. It takes about 1 min to complete, and the 5 items are summed to produce a total score.
WSAS typically takes about 1 min to administer. The exact duration varies a little depending on whether it is self-administered or completed with a clinician. Its brief format is part of what makes it practical for routine clinical use and for repeat administration when tracking change over time.
WSAS contains 5 items. Item scores are summed to produce the total. Scores run from 0 to 40, grouped into 3 interpretation bands from ‘Minimal impairment’ up to ‘Severe impairment’.
On the WSAS (total score 0–40), scores of 21–40 fall in the ‘Severe impairment’ band — interpreted as: Active treatment. The full ladder is: 0–9 — Minimal impairment: None.; 10–20 — Moderate impairment: Consider intervention.; 21–40 — Severe impairment: Active treatment. A higher score reflects a more severe presentation, and crossing a cutoff is a prompt to step up assessment or care — but these bands are screening thresholds, not diagnoses.
Scores of 0–9 fall in the ‘Minimal impairment’ band: None. A low score is reassuring but does not by itself rule out the underlying condition — if symptoms or clinical suspicion persist, reassess over time or use a complementary evaluation rather than relying on the number alone.
WSAS has reported Cronbach's α of 0.88 in validation samples and test–retest reliability of 0.8. Sensitive to change; used in clinical trials. In practical terms, a Cronbach’s α around 0.88 indicates good internal consistency (the items hang together well), and a test–retest reliability of 0.8 means scores are strongly stable when the scale is repeated without real clinical change.
WSAS is free to use with attribution — clinical, educational, and research use is permitted provided the original source is credited. If you publish results or reproduce the scale, include the citation to the source paper.
Mundt, J. C., Marks, I. M., Shear, M. K., & Greist, J. H. (2002). The Work and Social Adjustment Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 180(5), 461-464. This is the original publication for the WSAS — the reference to cite when reporting results.
No. WSAS is a structured assessment aid, not a diagnostic test. Its proper role is clinical assessment of impaired functioning at work, home, and socially — it standardizes assessment and flags who needs closer evaluation, but the result must be weighed alongside history, examination, and clinical context. When a score conflicts with your clinical impression, clinical judgment takes precedence; treatment decisions should never rest on a screening score alone.
WSAS is supported by the following peer-reviewed sources: