psychometric properties of the 10 questions version of the kessler psychological distress scale (k-10)

the aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties, factor structure and kessler psychological distress scale (k-10) cut-off point on the students and prepare it as a screening tool for mental health. in this study, 500 students of tehran universities of medical sciences were selected by proportional sampling. participants responded to the kessler psychological distress scale and were interviewed by the trained interviewers with the composite international diagnostic interview. confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the k-10 questionnaire single factor and the values of factor loadings for the main factor were ​​between 65/0 and 84/0. the sensitivity, specificity and overall misclassification rate for the best cut-off point of the kessler psychological distress scale  (8) was respectively 81, 80/5 and 16/5 percent, respectively. the cut-off point, taking into account the maximum sensitivity (100%) was 1 and maximum specificity (100%) was 27. cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of and spearman - brown coefficient the scale were 93/0 and 91/0 respectively. this questionnaire is suitable for screening of college students’ psychopathology.