The performance of the Japanese version of the K6 and K10 in the World Mental Health Survey Japan

Two new screening scales for psychological distress, the K6 and K10, have been developed using the item response theory and shown to outperform existing screeners in English. We developed their Japanese versions using the standard back-translaton method and included them in the World Mental Health Survey Japan (WMH-J), which is a psychiatric epidemiologic study conducted in seven communities across Japan with 2436 participants. The WMH-J used the WMH Survey Initiative version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) to assess the 30-day Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders--Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Performance of the two screening scales in detecting DSM-IV mood and anxiety…

• JD
  John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

  Awards: R01 DA016558, R13-MH066849
• BS
  Bristol-Myers Squibb
• EL
  Eli Lilly and Company
• G
  GlaxoSmithKline
• WH
  World Health Organization
• PA
  Pan American Health Organization
• NI
  National Institute of Mental Health

  Awards: R01-MH069864, R13-MH066849, R01MH070884
• FI
  Fogarty International Center

  Awards: FIRCA R01-TW006481, R01-TW006481