CAT-MH® is a suite of measures validated for depression, anxiety, suicidality, mania/hypomania, substance use disorder, PTSD, psychosis, adult ADHD, and social determinants of health. It is a mental health and substance abuse severity assessment tool that administers a small and optimal subset of questions tailored to an individual's level of severity.
The CAT-MH® uses computer adaptive testing based on multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) to provide precise measurement of mental health concerns in a very short period of time. Any single module takes only 1-3 minutes. This precision measurement of common mental health concerns provides busy clinicians with an efficient means of collecting maximum patient health data in the shortest amount of time.
The CAT-MH® is designed to provide personalized assessment of mental health concerns that allows for efficient screening across a variety of settings, providing clinicians intake data as well as a reliable, precise method for measurement of outcomes over time. MIRT and Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT) mean that individuals can be assessed over time with novel item sets, thus eliminating response bias and personalizing each assessment. The breadth of constructs available to be measured provides a broad screen of mental health issues valuable for all patients and students.
Administration Settings
This section contains general administration information such as administration date, age at administration, and examiner name.
Assessment Demographics
To create an administration, select the desired options in the Assessment Demographics:
Demographic Item |
Coachmark Text |
Administration language |
Select the language, English or Spanish, for the administration. |
Timeframe |
Select the Timeframe for the administration:
The timeframe specifies the period that should be considered when answering questions. The selected timeframe will apply to all modules administered in the test session, except for those that do not support the chosen timeframe. In such cases, the closest valid timeframe will be used. Timeframes can be selected from a predefined list of options. By default, the timeframe is set to “Past 2 weeks.” The selected timeframe will be displayed prior to presenting the questions and will be updated if it changes between modules. |
Population |
Select the Population for the administration:
Selecting the Perinatal population ensures that symptom items potentially influenced by the experience of pregnancy (pre or post-partum) are excluded from the Depression, Anxiety Disorder and Mania/Hypomania modules. |
Modules At least one Module must be selected for the test session. |
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| Depression | The Depression (CAT-DI) module is a dimensional measure of depressive symptom severity. It administers an average of 10-12 questions drawn from a 389-item bank and provides a continuous severity score, an estimated probability of meeting DSM-5 criteria for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), a percentile rank relative to individuals who meet criteria for MDD, and a PHQ-9 equivalent score to support continuity with existing workflows. The CAT-DI is best used for screening and measuring depression and is an ideal tool for measurement and evaluation over time. Of note, CAT-DI is approved for use under the National Quality Forum (NQF) 0418 measure for annual depression screening. |
Anxiety Disorder |
The Anxiety Disorder (CAT-ANX) module measures anxiety severity and provides continuous severity scores based on patient-reported symptoms. It also provides an estimated probability of meeting DSM-5 criteria for Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and a percentile rank relative to individuals who meet criteria for GAD. Drawing from a calibrated bank of 431 items, it typically administers about 10-12 questions while maintaining a high correspondence with the full item bank (r = 0.94). This module takes an average of 79 seconds to complete. CAT-ANX is best used for screening and measuring anxiety and for tracking changes over time. |
Suicide |
The Suicide Module (CAT-SS) is designed to assess suicidal thoughts, intent, plans, and behaviors; to measure change over time; and to inform longer-term risk stratification. CAT-SS items are drawn from depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation domains calibrated to create a single unified dimension. On average, the measure administers 10 items and shows a strong correlation with the full 111-item bank (r = 0.96). A high-risk alert is triggered on the Q-global® Score Report when the CAT-SS severity score meets or exceeds 71. This tool is best used to measure current suicidality, stratify risk of a future suicide attempt over the next 3 to 6 months, and assess change in the severity of suicidality over time. |
Mania/Hypomania |
The Mania/Hypomania (CAT-MANIA) module is a dimensional measure that provides continuous scores of current mania/hypomania severity based on patient-reported symptoms. Drawing from a calibrated bank of 87 items, it administers an average of 12 questions and maintains a strong correlation with the full item bank (r = 0.91). Because Bipolar Disorder is a lifetime diagnosis and individuals may be euthymic during the assessment timeframe, CAT-Mania is not intended to predict or determine a Bipolar Disorder diagnosis; rather, it quantifies current symptom severity. The CAT-MANIA is best used for screening and measuring active mania/hypomania and is an ideal tool for measurement and evaluation over time. |
Substance Use Disorder-Initial Assessment |
The Substance Use Disorder–Initial Assessment (CAT-SUD-E) module is designed for diagnostic screening, while the Substance Use Disorder-Outcome Monitoring (CAT-SUD) is recommended for repeated assessments and longitudinal monitoring. The CAT-SUD and CAT-SUD-E cannot be administered within the same test session.
CAT-SUD-E extends CAT-SUD by providing diagnoses for eight SUDs in adults (alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, opioids, cocaine, amphetamines, hallucinogens, sedatives) with both lifetime and current (past 30 days) status. It includes the adaptive component of CAT-SUD but replaces the six frequency-of-use classes with the more comprehensive set of lifetime and current SUD diagnoses. Results are displayed in 2 parts: Part 1 provides a diagnosis based on report of current and previous substance use, and Part 2 provides the standard metrics of severity, categorization, and precision. |
Substance Use Disorder - Outcome Monitoring |
The Substance Use Disorder–Outcome Monitoring (CAT-SUD) module is designed for repeated assessment of SUD severity. For screening applications, the CAT-SUD–Initial Assessment (CAT-SUD-E) is recommended. The CAT-SUD and CAT-SUD-E cannot be administered within the same test session.
CAT-SUD provides a dimensional severity score that indicates the risk of substance use disorder. It also captures self-reported frequency of use across six substance classes: alcohol, sedatives/hypnotics, prescription opioids/analgesics, heroin/methadone, cocaine/amphetamines, and marijuana. In addition, it integrates mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, PTSD), social supports, and risky behaviors with self-reported use of tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, and opioids to generate a comprehensive risk profile. The instrument can identify risk even among individuals who have not initiated use or who may be reluctant to disclose. CAT-SUD has been validated against the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) Substance Use Disorder diagnostic module. |
PTSD - Diagnosis |
The PTSD-Diagnosis (CAD-PTSD) module provides a binary screening diagnosis (positive/negative) for PTSD and demonstrates outstanding predictive accuracy (AUC = 0.91) relative to a SCID DSM-5 diagnosis. Designed for diagnostic screening, it closely reproduces a CAPS-5 structured clinical interview administered by a trained clinician using a maximum of six items in a median administration time of 35 seconds. The validation study was conducted with U.S. military veterans at a Veterans Health Administration facility, and the item bank was developed to be applicable to both military and civilian presentations of PTSD. The CAD-PTSD and CAT-PTSD-E cannot be administered within the same test session. |
PTSD - Expanded |
The PTSD-Expanded (CAT-PTSD-E) module is a dimensional measure of PTSD severity designed for measurement-based care, treatment triage, and outcome assessment. It produces a continuous 0–100 severity score in an average of 94 seconds, typically administering about 10 items while maintaining high fidelity to the full item bank. Use the continuous score to track change over time, while severity categories (none, mild, moderate, severe) are available to support clinical decision-making. The CAT-PTSD and CAT-PTSD-E cannot be administered within the same test session. |
Psychosis - Self-Report |
The Psychosis-Self Report (CAT-PSYCHOSIS) module is a dimensional self-report measure that screens for active psychosis and provides a continuous severity score for tracking over time. It can be completed in under two minutes using an average of 11 items while maintaining a strong correlation (r = 0.94) with the full 73-item bank. Scores are reported on a 0–100 scale with approximately 6-point precision. The CAT-PSYCHOSIS is best used for screening and measuring active psychosis and to measure the severity of psychosis over time. |
Adult ADHD |
The Adult ADHD (CAT-ADHD) module is a dimensional measure of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptom severity for adults aged 18 and older. Derived from the validated K-CAT® child module with items rewritten for adult applicability, it can typically be completed in about 109 seconds using an average of seven adaptively administered questions while maintaining a strong correlation with the full 153-item ADHD bank (r = 0.95). The CAT-ADHD is best used for screening and measuring current ADHD symptom severity and is an ideal tool for tracking symptoms over time. |
Social Determinants of Health |
The Social Determinants of Health (CAT-SDoH) module is a computerized adaptive version of a life quality measure designed and validated for people with mental health disorders. It captures an individual’s subjective satisfaction with their social and physical environment across seven domains and provides a 1-100 score with approximately 5-point precision. Using an average of 11 items, it maintains high fidelity to the full 35-item scale (r=0.96). The CAT-SDoH module is best used for screening and tracking changes in perceived life quality over time. |
Note that all demographics selections are used to configure the administration and cannot be edited after the administration is created.
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