Take a PHQ-9 or GAD-7 assessment

The PHQ-9 and the GAD-7 are short questionnaires. Each asks how often a set of problems has bothered you over the last two weeks, and gives a score. The app calls them assessments. They do not replace advice from a mental health professional, and the app says so beside every result.

For clients

You need the latest version of the CopingCard app, signed in.

Take an assessment

1. Tap the Assessments tab at the bottom of the screen.
2. Tap Depression for the PHQ-9, or Anxiety for the GAD-7.
3. Tap Take a New Assessment.
4. Tap the answer that fits, from Not at all to Nearly every day. Next Question stays greyed out until you choose one.
5. Tap Next Question. To change an earlier answer, tap Go Back.
6. Repeat for every question. The PHQ-9 has nine questions and the GAD-7 has seven.
7. If you chose anything other than Not at all, one more question asks how difficult these problems have made things. Answer it the same way. It is not part of the score.
8. On the last question, tap See Result.

The app saves the assessment when you tap See Result: there is no separate save. If it cannot save it, it tells you so. Check your connection and tap See Result again.

Read your result

The Assessment Result screen shows your score, for example PHQ-9 Score, and your severity, Depression Severity or Anxiety Severity. Under Typically Proposed Treatment Actions it shows a general line for that severity. A note below says that the result cannot replace a professional’s advice. If your score is above 9, the screen also offers Go to Therapists Search: see Find a therapist and send a message.

Set or turn off the reminder to retake it

Below the result, Next Assessment Reminder shows a date one month ahead, with the switch on. The reminder is a notification on your phone at that time. If notifications for CopingCard are off in your phone’s settings, the reminder does not arrive.

1. On the Assessment Result screen, tap the pencil next to the date.
2. Choose a date and time, then tap Ok.
3. To turn the reminder off, tap the switch.
4. When you are done, tap Go back to assessments.

On the free plan, the reminder cannot be set too soon after the assessment; choosing an earlier date opens the subscription screen. See Premium and the free plan.

See your scores over time

1. On the Assessments tab, tap Depression or Anxiety.
2. Under Trends, read the chart. It shows one point for each day you took the assessment, with the score of the first one that day.
3. To change the time range, tap 1W, 1M, 3M, 6M or YTD.

The chart appears after your first result. The longer ranges need Premium, and on the free plan tapping one opens the subscription screen. If you took an assessment recently, the free plan can also open the subscription screen when you tap Take a New Assessment. The help circle next to the title explains what the assessment is.

Who can see your results

Your results are your own work in the app. If you connect with a therapist, the options on the Data Sharing with Therapists screen in Settings decide who sees them. With Allow viewing my data on, your therapist sees your results in the CopingCard portal. With Allow practice admins to view my data on, the admins of your therapist’s practice see them too. They see them when they open your page: they are not alerted when you take an assessment. If those options are off, your results do not show on your therapist’s page. See Choose what your therapist can see.

For therapists

A client takes the assessments in the app. The portal shows the results and cannot take one for the client. You see a client’s results only if they let you view their data, or, as a practice admin, let practice admins view it. CopingCard does not monitor or flag results: you see them when you open the list or the client’s page.

Read the results

1. In the portal menu, open Tools and click Assessments.
2. Read the columns Client ID, Type, Score, Severity and Passed At. To sort, click the title of Client ID, Score or Passed At. Client ID and Type have filters, and the Type filter offers PHQ-9 and GAD-7.
3. To see one client, choose them under Filter by Client in the header.

Severity is the band the app also shows the client. A client who does not share their results with you has no rows in the list.

A client’s page shows the same results over time. Open it as in Find a client and open their page, and on the Overview tab find PHQ-9 and GAD-7 history, with one chart for each assessment. If the client does not share, the section reads The client doesn’t share this with you. Each assessment taken also appears in the client’s Activity Log: see See a client’s activity in the app.

Assign an assessment as homework

1. On the client’s page, open the Homework tab and click Assign homework.
2. Under Kind, choose Questionnaire.
3. Under What, choose PHQ-9 · depression or GAD-7 · anxiety.
4. Fill in the rest and click Assign.

The homework is marked done by itself when the client takes that assessment in the app after you assigned it. A GAD-7 does not complete PHQ-9 homework, and an assessment taken before you assigned it does not count. You cannot take it for the client in the portal. Homework that repeats, such as a monthly PHQ-9, is one piece of homework with a date for each time. The full steps are in Assign homework to a client.

Learn more

• My homework is not marked as done
• Premium and the free plan
• Choose what your therapist can see
• Assign homework to a client