School-Based Mental Health Screening Tools

Brief Versions of the Social-Emotional Health Survey-Primary and the Me and My School Questionnaires for Elementary School Students

The brief SEHS-P (8-item) and M&MS (6-items) scales are designed to assess social-emotional strengths and distress symptoms in elementary school students, particularly those in grades three to five. Both scales have been validated among elementary school students in California and demonstrate strong psychometric properties. A fillable screening form, which includes both screeners and scoring guidelines, is available in Supplementary Materials.

California Student Wellness Index for Mental Health Screening in Middle and High Schools

The CSWI is a 0-40 composite index derived from responses to the Brief Multidimensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) and the Social Emotional Distress Scale (SEDS). The index can be used for wellness screening and monitoring. The development of the CSWI involved psychometric and normative analyses using data from 626,940 California secondary students during the 2021/22 and 2022/23 academic years. (see Covitality Project Website for more information)