Scales validated in Urdu
Published studies that translated and tested a psychological scale in Urdu, for a thesis, a clinic or a research project. Each shows the sample, the reliability the authors reported, and what the original scale's owner allows.
Which psychological scales have been validated in Urdu?
40 Urdu validation studies are listed here, including the PHQ-9, GAD-7, DASS, HADS, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, MSPSS and WHOQOL-BREF, plus scales developed in Urdu such as the Siddiqui-Shah Depression Scale.
Every DOI was checked against Crossref on 26 September 2026.
A translation is not free to use because it was published
Many scales are copyrighted, and their Urdu versions usually are too. Where the terms
are not listed below, write to the original authors or publisher before you use the
scale. The items themselves are not reproduced here.
| Scale | Urdu validation | Sample and reliability | Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSI) |
Validation of the Urdu Translation of the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation Ayub, N. (2008). Assessment. doi:10.1177/1073191107312240 |
N = 904 adolescents and young adults, eight major cities of Pakistan Cronbach's α = .75 |
Copyrighted commercial instrument; publisher licence required |
| Big Five Inventory-10 (BFI-10) |
Big five inventory-version 10: a two-minute personality measurement tool in Urdu Ahmad, S., & Hussain, S. (2022). Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. doi:10.47391/jpma.3339 |
N = 500 (358 men, 142 women), aged 18-48, Kharian Cantonment and Gilgit, Pakistan Cronbach's α for subscales 0.71-0.88 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Brief COPE |
Urdu Translation and Adaptation of Brief COPE Scale Nisa, A., & Siddiqui, S. (2020). Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research. doi:10.33824/pjpr.2020.35.1.1 |
N = 400 university students (200 men, 200 women), aged 19-25, Islamabad Subscales showed acceptable alpha reliability (values in paper) |
Carver: Brief COPE free to use for research |
| Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (CES-DC) |
VALIDATION OF URDU VERSION OF CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES FOR DEPRESSION SCALE FOR CHILDREN IN CONTEXT OF PAKISTAN Mustafa, N., & Maqsood, A. (2021). Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal. doi:10.51253/pafmj.v6i6.7428 |
N = 154 primary school children, Rawalpindi Urdu version α = 0.73; 15-day test-retest r = 0.96 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale (CPIC) |
Children’s Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale: Urdu Translation and Validation Bukhari, S., & Masood, S. (2020). Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research. doi:10.33824/pjpr.2020.35.2.18 |
N = 521 adolescents, Pakistan Sound internal consistency of all subscales (values in paper) |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Clinically Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale (CUXOS) |
Urdu translation and validation of clinically useful anxiety outcome scale in Pakistan: ‘an observational study’ Wajid, Y., Jami, H., Zubair, A., & Mujeeb, A. (2021). Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. doi:10.47391/jpma.3821 |
Clinical and non-clinical samples, Rawalpindi and Islamabad; separate bilingual sample | Not listed: ask the authors |
| Clinically Useful Depression Outcome Scale (CUDOS) |
Urdu translation and validation of clinically useful depression outcome scale Mauna Gauhar, Y. W., & Jami, H. (2021). Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. doi:10.47391/jpma.382 |
N = 170 (85 clinical, 85 non-clinical), Rawalpindi and Islamabad; cross-language N = 82 Satisfactory Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability (values in paper) |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) |
Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Urdu Version of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) in Male Patients With Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) in Pakistan Shahzad, S., Bano, N., Begum, N., & Jones, H. E. (2022). Frontiers in Psychiatry. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.812075 |
N = 237 male patients with substance use disorders, aged 18-50, Karachi Cronbach's α = 0.80 (total); subscales 0.70-0.89 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Coronavirus Anxiety Scale in Urdu (CASU) - indigenous |
The Development of Coronavirus Anxiety Scale in Urdu (CASU) Hussain, S., & Ahmad, S. (2021). Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society. doi:10.63050/jpps.18.01.84 |
N = 400 gender-balanced volunteers, CMH Kharian Cantonment Cronbach's α = 0.75 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-42) |
Translation, adaptation and validation of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale in Urdu Husain, W., & Gulzar, A. (2020). Insights on the Depression and Anxiety. doi:10.29328/journal.ida.1001011 |
N = 300 Pakistanis (convenience sample); pilot test-retest N = 30 | DASS is in the public domain; free to use |
| Dissociative Experiences Scale - Brief (DES-B) |
TRANSLATION AND VALIDATION OF URDU VERSION OF BRIEF DISSOCIATIVE EXPERIENCE SCALE FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER IN PAKISTAN Asif, M., & Rafique, R. (2024). Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society. doi:10.63050/jpps.21.03.318 |
N = 200 individuals with substance use disorder, rehabilitation centres across Pakistan Cronbach's α = .76; composite reliability = .77 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Friendship Scale (Hawthorne) |
Urdu Translation of Friendship Scale: Evidence for the Validity and Measurement Invariance Across Gender Khan, A., & Adil, A. (2020). The Spanish Journal of Psychology. doi:10.1017/sjp.2020.9 |
N = 500 older adults aged 60+ (263 men, 237 women), Lahore and Sargodha; cross-language N = 60 One-week test-retest .95 and .97 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Gaming Disorder Test (GDT) |
Translation, adaptation, and psychometric validation of the Urdu version of the Gaming Disorder Test (GDT-Urdu) among Pakistani adults Husain, W., Zahra, A., Khan, T., Azhar, A., Trabelsi, K., Ammar, A., & Jahrami, H. (2026). Discover Psychology. doi:10.1007/s44202-026-00745-0 |
N = 385 Pakistani adults Cronbach's α = 0.902, 0.845, 0.918 across three phases |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) |
The evaluation of an Urdu version of the GHQ‐28 Riaz, H., & Reza, H. (1998). Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1998.tb10027.x |
Bilingual students, Pakistan (crossover design) | Copyrighted commercial instrument; licence required |
|
Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)
About the original |
Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric validation of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment-7 for Urdu-speaking clinical populations Khan, A., Madihie, A., & Ali, I. (2026). Healthcare in Low-resource Settings. doi:10.4081/hls.2026.14309 |
N = 267 participants, Pakistani clinical population Cronbach's α = 0.896; cut-off 10: sensitivity 98.6%, specificity 81.4%, AUC 0.970 |
No permission required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute (PHQ screeners) |
| Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) |
The translation and evaluation of an Urdu version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale Mumford, D. B., Tareen, I. A. K., Bajwa, M. A. Z., Bhatti, M. R., & Karim, R. (1991). Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.1991.tb07370.x |
Bilingual population for linguistic equivalence (Pakistan) | Copyrighted; licence from the rights holder required, including for translations |
| Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) |
Validity and reliability of the Urdu version of the Hospital Anxiety & Depression Scale for assessing antenatal anxiety and depression in Pakistan Waqas, A., Aedma, K. K., Tariq, M., Meraj, H., & Naveed, S. (2019). Asian Journal of Psychiatry. doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2019.08.008 |
Pregnant women at four teaching hospitals, Lahore (2014) Cronbach's α = 0.81 (whole scale) |
Copyrighted; licence from the rights holder required, including for translations |
| Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) |
Psychometric properties of the Urdu version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) among pregnant women in Abbottabad, Pakistan Lodhi, F. S., Elsous, A. M., Irum, S., Khan, A. A., & Rabbani, U. (2020). General Psychiatry. doi:10.1136/gpsych-2020-100276 |
N = 200 pregnant women, Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad Overall α = 0.84 (anxiety 0.82, depression 0.64); test-retest ICC = 0.934 |
Copyrighted; licence from the rights holder required, including for translations |
| Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) |
Psychometric Properties of the Urdu Translation of Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) in Pakistan Ajmal, A., & Batool, S. S. (2020). sjesr. doi:10.36902/sjesr-vol3-iss2-2020(190-197) |
205 married couples, Pakistan Good reliability; one-factor CFA fit (values in paper) |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) |
Validation Study of the Mini-Mental State Examination in Urdu Language for Pakistani Population Awan, S., Shahbaz, N., Akhtar, S. W., Ahmad, A., Iqbal, S., Ahmed, S., Naqvi, H., & Wasay, M. (2015). The Open Neurology Journal. doi:10.2174/1874205x01509010053 |
N = 400 (100 dementia patients from five hospitals, 300 controls), Pakistan | Copyrighted; licence required from the publisher |
| Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) |
Urdu Translation and Cross-Cultural Validation of Mood Disorder Questionnaire on Patient Engaging in Self-Harm Yaqoob, N., & Ahsan, S. (2023). Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal. doi:10.51253/pafmj.v73i4.8190 |
N = 40 patients with self-harm, aged 18-35, Rawalpindi, Multan and Jhelum hospitals Cronbach's α = 0.80 (Urdu group) |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) |
Multidimensional scale of perceived social support: Psychometric properties in a South Asian population Akhtar, A., Rahman, A., Husain, M., Chaudhry, I. B., Duddu, V., & Husain, N. (2010). Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research. doi:10.1111/j.1447-0756.2010.01204.x |
N = 325 antenatal women, Kallar, Rawalpindi district Cronbach's α = 0.92; single-factor solution |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Need to Belong Scale |
Translation and psychometric validation of the need to belong scale in Urdu Javed, F., Ijaz, S., & Iqbal, M. N. (2025). BMC Psychology. doi:10.1186/s40359-025-02982-9 |
N = 300 (150 men, 150 women), Pakistan Cronbach's α = 0.92 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents (PHQ-A) |
Cross-cultural validation of the Urdu translation of the Patient Health Questionnaire for Adolescents among children and adolescents at a Pakistani school Naveed, S., Waqas, A., Memon, A. R., Jabeen, M., & Sheikh, M. H. (2019). Public Health. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2018.11.022 |
N = 452 children and adolescents at a Pakistani school Cronbach's α = 0.76; test-retest ICC = 0.61 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
|
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
About the original |
Sensitivity and specificity of Urdu version of the PHQ-9 to screen depression in patients with coronary artery disease Gholizadeh, L., Ali Khan, S., Vahedi, F., & Davidson, P. M. (2017). Contemporary Nurse. doi:10.1080/10376178.2017.1283245 |
N = 150 patients with coronary artery disease, Pakistan Cronbach's α = 0.83; cut-off ≥6: sensitivity 76%, specificity 76%, AUC 0.86 |
No permission required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute (PHQ screeners) |
|
Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)
About the original |
Criterion-related validity and reliability of the Urdu version of the patient health questionnaire in a sample of community-based pregnant women in Pakistan Gallis, J. A., Maselko, J., O’Donnell, K., Song, K., Saqib, K., Turner, E. L., & Sikander, S. (2018). PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.5185 |
N = 1,731 community-based pregnant women (third trimester), rural Pakistan Cronbach's α = 0.844; cut-off ≥10: sensitivity 94.7%, specificity 88.9%, AUC 0.959 |
No permission required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute (PHQ screeners) |
| Perception of Parents Scale - Child version (POPS) |
Psychometric properties of the Urdu translation of children's perception of Parents scale Shahzad, S., & Khan, A. (2020). Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association. doi:10.5455/jpma.22379 |
N = 758 secondary school students aged 12-16, Karachi Subscale α = 0.592-0.777; test-retest 0.791-0.874 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Personal and Perceived Public Stigma Beliefs Scale (Eurobarometer) |
Urdu Translation and Psychometric Validation of Stigma Beliefs Scale Abbas, R., Bracke, P., & Delaruelle, K. (2025). Research on Social Work Practice. doi:10.1177/10497315241307615 |
N = 1,328 college students aged 15-24, Layyah, Punjab α = 0.76 (personal), 0.74 (perceived public) |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) |
Psychometric properties of the Urdu version of the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ): a validation study among mothers with prenatal anxiety symptoms in Pakistan Islam, M. S., Park, S., Malik, A., Atif, N., Osborne, L. M., Perin, J., Rahman, A., & Surkan, P. J. (2026). Archives of Women's Mental Health. doi:10.1007/s00737-025-01661-3 |
N = 720 mothers with prenatal anxiety symptoms, Rawalpindi Ordinal α = 0.71-0.93 (19-item, five-factor version) |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Resilience Scale (RS-14) and Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA) |
Comparison of Urdu Versions of the Resilience Scale and the Resilience Scale for Adults Hirani, S. S., Lasiuk, G., Van Vliet, K. J., Van Zanten, S. V., Karmaliani, R., & Norris, C. M. (2018). Journal of Nursing Measurement. doi:10.1891/1061-3749.26.1.106 |
N = 120 women, low socioeconomic areas of Karachi | Not listed: ask the authors |
| Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) |
Urdu Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale: An Analysis of Reliability and Validity in Pakistan Rizwan, M. (2017). Sociology International Journal. doi:10.15406/sij.2017.01.00010 |
Not listed: ask the authors | |
| Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS) |
Urdu Translation and Validation of Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale among Frontliners during Covid-19 Mazhar, A., & Zaman, N. I. (2022). Clinical and Counselling Psychology Review. doi:10.32350/ccpr.42.05 |
N = 290 frontline doctors and paramedics; second sample N = 120 frontline nurses Cronbach's α = 0.94; test-retest = 0.86 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) |
Translation and Validation of the Self-Compassion Scale in Urdu Language for Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Salman, F., Arshad, T., & Sitwat, A. (2025). Academic Journal of Social Sciences. doi:10.54692/ajss.2024.822291 |
N = 204 mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder | Not listed: ask the authors |
| Short Muslim Practice and Belief Scale (SMPBS) |
Urdu Translation and Validation of Short Muslim Practice and Belief Scale in Pakistan Ghayas, S., & Batool, S. S. (2016). The Spanish Journal of Psychology. doi:10.1017/sjp.2016.21 |
N = 500 participants; cross-language N = 60 Cronbach's α = .78 |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Siddiqui-Shah Depression Scale (SSDS) - indigenous |
Siddiqui-Shah Depression Scale (SSDS): Development and Validation Siddiqui, S., & Ali Shah, S. A. (1997). Psychology and Developing Societies. doi:10.1177/097133369700900205 |
Clinical and non-clinical Pakistani samples Cronbach's α = 0.91 (clinical), 0.89 (non-clinical) |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| Social Rank Scale for Women with Infertility (SRS-WI) - indigenous |
Psychometric evaluation and validation of Urdu Social Rank Scale for women with infertility in Pakistan Mubashir, A. S., Batool, S. S., & Arafat, S. M. Y. (2023). Frontiers in Psychiatry. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1150941 |
Women with primary infertility, hospitals across Pakistan (EFA N = 215; CFA N = 210) | Not listed: ask the authors |
| Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) |
Child and adolescent psychopathology in a developing country: testing the validity of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (Urdu version) Samad, L., Hollis, C., Prince, M., & Goodman, R. (2005). International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. doi:10.1002/mpr.3 |
N = 212 children aged 4-16 (72 psychiatric, 140 paediatric outpatients), Pakistan AUC > 0.70 for all scores |
Free for non-commercial paper use; must not be modified (sdqinfo.org) |
| Wagnild & Young Resilience Scale (RS-25 and RS-14) |
Validation of the Urdu Version of Wagnild and Young’s Long and Short Resilience Scales Among 20- to 40-Year-Old Married Women Living in Urban Squatter Settlements of Karachi, Pakistan Bhamani, S. S., Pasha, O., Karmaliani, R., Asad, N., & Azam, I. (2015). Journal of Nursing Measurement. doi:10.1891/1061-3749.23.3.425 |
Women aged 20-40, two urban squatter settlements of Karachi (validity N = 636; reliability N = 319) Test-retest r = .54 and .49; internal consistency acceptable |
Not listed: ask the authors |
| WHOQOL-BREF |
Psychometric properties of the Urdu version of the World Health Organization's quality of life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) Lodhi, F. S., Raza, O., Montazeri, A., Nedjat, S., Yaseri, M., & Holakouie-Naieni, K. (2017). Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran. doi:10.14196/mjiri.31.129 |
N = 2,060 adults aged 18+, Abbottabad district (multi-stage cluster sample) Cronbach's α = 0.86 overall; domains 0.78/0.75/0.73, social domain 0.56; retest ICC 0.72-0.92 |
WHO permission / user agreement required for WHOQOL instruments |
| Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) |
Psychometric properties of Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT) in Urdu language Ndasauka, Y., Pitafi, A., & Kayange, G. M. (2019). Asian Journal of Psychiatry. doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2019.01.011 |
N = 506 participants | Not listed: ask the authors |
Every DOI was checked against Crossref, and samples and reliabilities are as the published abstracts report them. Know a validation that is missing? Tell us through the contact page with its DOI.