The Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) (Shaffer et al. 1983) is one of the most widely used measures of the overall severity of disturbance in children. It is a unidimensional (global) measure of social and psychiatric functioning for children ages 4–16 years. The CGAS is based on an adaptation of the Global Assessment Scale (GAS) for adults and can be used as an indicator of need for clinical services, a marker for the impact of treatment, or a single index of impairment in epidemiological studies.

The CES-D is a 20-item, self-report depression scale. Items refer to the frequency of symptoms during last week. It can also be administered as a structured interview. The CES-D is a brief questionnaire that assesses the frequency and duration of the symptoms associated with depression. Studies with alcohol and drug abusers have shown the scale to be a reliable and valid measure of depressed feelings in these groups. CES-D also suitable for measuring change and improvements in depression following treatment. It has been used with both males and females in general population surveys and in various clinical samples, including alcohol and drug abusers. The CES-D has been adapted for use with children. The scale has also been validated for use with adolescents, the elderly, and a number of different ethnic groups. As with other self-assessed depression scales, the CES-D should not be viewed as a diagnostic tool, but rather as a screening test to identify individuals or groups at risk for depression.

The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) is a multidimensional symptom inventory designed to reflect psychological symptom patterns of psychiatric and medical patients. This 53-item self-report is the short form of the SCL-90-R instrument. Like the SCL-90-R instrument, the BSI can be useful in initial evaluation of patients at intake as an objective method of screening for psychological problems. The BSI instrument is especially appropriate in clinical situations where debilitation results in reduced attention and endurance, in research with limited interview schedules, and in outpatient clinics where testing procedures demand brevity. The BSI instrument is also frequently used in measuring patient progress during treatment or in the assessment of treatment outcomes. Completion time is 8-10 minutes. This instrument is useful in tracking changes in reported psychopathology over time. It gives specific indicators of a variety of forms of psychopathology and overall relative severity of psychopathology. The BSI 18 (Derogatis, 2000) is a brief, easy-to-administer, abbreviated version of the BSI and the SCL. It takes 4 minutes to administer and complete, and measures somatization, depression, and anxiety in both inpatient and community settings. It is used primarily to monitor mental health status during hospitalization and aftercare for patients with chronic conditions.