The DACL are self-administered in two to three minutes but may be read to the subject if needed. Unaffected subjects take about two-anda- half minutes to complete a list; psychiatric patients take longer. Scores for each list count the positive adjectives that are checked, plus the number of negative adjectives that are not checked: high scores indicate depressed mood. The maximum score is 32 for lists A to D and 34 for lists E to G. Scoring is simplified by a transparent overlay that indicates which responses are counted for each list. A cutting-point of 13 or above (one standard deviation above the population mean score obtained by Lubin) has been used to indicate mild depression, and 16 or above (+2 standard deviations) to indicate severe depression (6).