Because internalizing disorders contain differing numbers of criteria, we wished to construct a scale that incorporated equal weighting or input from the disorders. To accomplish this, the scale includes 7 items reflecting the 6 diagnoses and suicidality (Table 2). Each of the 7 items is scored between 0 and 3. A score of 0 indicates no symptoms for the disorder or symptoms of suicidality; a score of 1 indicates the person has fewer than half the core symptoms for the disorder and therefore (by DSM requirements) cannot meet diagnostic criteria for the disorder (or, for suicidality, the person has only thoughts about killing self); a score of 2 is given when the person has half or more of the symptoms for a disorder but does not meet full diagnostic criteria (because symptom clustering and/or functional impairment requirements are not met; or, for suicidality, the person has both thoughts and plans of killing self but no attempts); and a score of 3 is assigned when a person meets diagnostic criteria for the disorder (or has made at least one suicide attempt).
