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Examining the classification accuracy of GAD-7 and PHQ-9 against the QuickSCID-5 in Canadian undergraduates: Improving post-secondary student mental health screening.

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Title: Examining the classification accuracy of GAD-7 and PHQ-9 against the QuickSCID-5 in Canadian undergraduates: Improving post-secondary student mental health screening.
Authors: Hews-Girard, Julia C. (NURSE), Dimitropoulos, Gina (AUTHOR), Patten, Scott (AUTHOR), Velmovitsky, Pedro E. (AUTHOR), Keown-Stoneman, Charles D. G. (AUTHOR), King, Nathan (AUTHOR), Qiao, Thomas (AUTHOR), Furlani, Noah (AUTHOR), Thannhauser, Jennifer (AUTHOR), Szeto, Andrew C. H. (AUTHOR), Duffy, Anne (AUTHOR)
Source: Journal of American College Health. Jul2026, Vol. 74 Issue 6, p1669-1680. 12p.
Subjects: Psychiatric diagnosis, Predictive tests, Cross-sectional method, Research funding, Receiver operating characteristic curves, Data analysis, Research evaluation, Questionnaires, Undergraduates, Mental illness, Logistic regression analysis, Severity of illness index, Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney U Test, Chi-squared test, Anxiety, Psychometrics, Statistics, Psychological stress, Medical screening, Factor analysis, Data analysis software, Sensitivity & specificity (Statistics), Mental depression, Generalized anxiety disorder
Geographic Terms: Canada
Abstract: Background: The classification accuracy of the General Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in post-secondary students remains uncertain. Methods: Undergraduate students completed a survey (n = 159) and QuickSCID-5 (n = 130). Sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristics were calculated, and alternative scoring strategies were explored. Results: Most students identified as first-year, Canadian, and female. Among survey respondents, 42% (GAD-7) and 35% (PHQ-9) scored >10. Most students with high stress and GAD-7 scores did not meet the criteria for GAD. At a screening cut-off of >10, sensitivity and specificity were: 80.6/72.3% (GAD-7) and 92.9/72.4% (PHQ-9), respectively. Preliminary evidence supported moderate classification accuracy of GAD-7 (AUC = 0.78) for detecting GAD, but poor accuracy for detecting other disorders. PHQ-9 showed high classification accuracy (AUC = 0.92) for depression; preliminary evidence supported improved accuracy with alternative scoring. Conclusions: While PHQ-9 appears to be a useful screening measure, findings suggest the GAD-7 may capture stress rather than clinical anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of American College Health is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Examining the classification accuracy of GAD-7 and PHQ-9 against the QuickSCID-5 in Canadian undergraduates: Improving post-secondary student mental health screening.
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  Data: Background: The classification accuracy of the General Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) in post-secondary students remains uncertain. Methods: Undergraduate students completed a survey (n = 159) and QuickSCID-5 (n = 130). Sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating characteristics were calculated, and alternative scoring strategies were explored. Results: Most students identified as first-year, Canadian, and female. Among survey respondents, 42% (GAD-7) and 35% (PHQ-9) scored >10. Most students with high stress and GAD-7 scores did not meet the criteria for GAD. At a screening cut-off of >10, sensitivity and specificity were: 80.6/72.3% (GAD-7) and 92.9/72.4% (PHQ-9), respectively. Preliminary evidence supported moderate classification accuracy of GAD-7 (AUC = 0.78) for detecting GAD, but poor accuracy for detecting other disorders. PHQ-9 showed high classification accuracy (AUC = 0.92) for depression; preliminary evidence supported improved accuracy with alternative scoring. Conclusions: While PHQ-9 appears to be a useful screening measure, findings suggest the GAD-7 may capture stress rather than clinical anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Journal of American College Health is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1080/07448481.2025.2596075
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        Text: English
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      – SubjectFull: Mental illness
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      – SubjectFull: Logistic regression analysis
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      – SubjectFull: Severity of illness index
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      – SubjectFull: Canada
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