Interpreting
Assessment Results
What the PHQ-8 and GAD-7 measure, what your scores indicate in general terms, and why your care team is the right person to interpret them for your specific situation.
What the assessments are
During onboarding, you completed two brief questionnaires — the PHQ-8 and the GAD-7. These are standardized clinical screening tools used widely across mental health research and practice. They're not personality tests or diagnostic labels. They're a starting point — a way of establishing a baseline so your care team can track how you're doing over time.
The PHQ-8 (Patient Health Questionnaire, 8 items) screens for symptoms associated with depression. The GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder, 7 items) screens for symptoms associated with anxiety. Both ask about the past two weeks and use a 0–3 scale per question (Not at all / Several days / More than half the days / Nearly every day).
A PHQ-8 or GAD-7 score is not a diagnosis. It indicates whether symptoms in the relevant range are present and at what level — which helps your care team understand your baseline and track change over time. What your score means for you specifically depends on context that only you and your care team can assess together.
Both instruments are validated across diverse populations and are among the most widely used screening tools in mental health care globally. Vasl uses the PHQ-8 rather than the PHQ-9 for routine screening — the PHQ-8 omits one question that requires clinical follow-up if answered positively, which is handled within the care relationship rather than in a self-administered questionnaire.
PHQ-8 score ranges
PHQ-8 scores range from 0 to 24. The standard clinical ranges are:
The PHQ-8 questions cover: little interest or pleasure in activities, feeling down or hopeless, sleep difficulties, fatigue, appetite changes, feeling bad about yourself, difficulty concentrating, and moving or speaking slowly. Each is scored 0–3, giving a maximum of 24.
GAD-7 score ranges
GAD-7 scores range from 0 to 21. The standard clinical ranges are:
The GAD-7 questions cover: feeling nervous or anxious, inability to control worrying, worrying too much, trouble relaxing, restlessness, irritability, and feeling afraid something awful might happen. Each is scored 0–3, giving a maximum of 21.
What your score actually means — and doesn't
Score ranges tell you where your symptom level sits relative to a population average. They don't tell you what's causing those symptoms, how long they'll last, or what you need to do. A score in the "moderate" range for one person might reflect a particularly hard week that resolves on its own. For another person it might reflect something that's been building for months. The number is the same — the meaning is different.
Cultural context matters significantly here. These tools were validated primarily on White, English-speaking populations. Research consistently shows that BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals often express distress differently than the symptom descriptions assume — and may score lower on these instruments even when experiencing significant distress. Your coach and VLAP signal context together give your care team a more complete picture than the score alone.
If your score was higher than you expected — that's worth talking to your coach about. If it was lower than you expected — same thing. The score is a starting point for a conversation, not the conclusion of one. Your experience of your own wellbeing matters more than the number.
What your score is most useful for is tracking change over time. A score of 9 on its own doesn't tell you much. A score that was 9 three months ago and is now 5 tells you something is improving. That trajectory — not the single data point — is what your care team pays attention to.
Who can see your scores
Your PHQ-8 and GAD-7 scores are visible to you in your profile, and to your assigned coach and clinician as clinical context. They are never shared with your school, your employer, your parents, or your organization's administrators.
At the population level, Vasl surfaces aggregate, de-identified score distributions to org administrators — things like "42% of members in the moderate range at onboarding." No individual scores, no names, no way to identify who contributed to the aggregate. This helps organizations understand the level of need across their population without exposing any individual's information.
Your assessment scores are classified as protected health information under HIPAA — not as an education record under FERPA. Your school cannot access them under any circumstances. This is architectural, not a setting that can be changed.
Retaking assessments
You can retake the PHQ-8 and GAD-7 at any time from your profile. Vasl recommends retaking every 90 days — or sooner if you've been through a significant change in your life or in how you're feeling.
Your care team may also ask you to retake assessments at specific points — before a clinical session, after a period of coaching, or at program milestones. When you retake, your new score is added to your history and your previous scores are preserved for comparison.
To retake: go to My Profile → Assessment Scores → Retake assessments. The questionnaires take approximately 3 minutes to complete. Your new scores will be visible to your care team immediately after submission.