Free instruments
Tier 2 measures ask for a reported change. Each instrument below has a form you can link to and a license sentence quoted from its publisher. Check the quote before you rely on it.
- Public domain 2. The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
- Free, with conditions 2. Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
Cleared instruments, best rights class first 4
SCORE-15
Public domainLicense wording
“freely available; permission not required for use.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
15 scored; ancillary questions separate items5-10 min (estimated)Family functioning/change
- Scoring
- Reverse negative items 2,4,5,7,8,9,11,12,13,14 using 6 minus the response; mean all 15: 1-5, higher = worse functioning.
- Named by funders
- NIH PhenX catalogue; no grant mandate verified.
- Validity
- Stratton et al., 2014, J Family Therapy 36:3-19; 584 participants/239 families, sensitivity over three therapy sessions (primary abstract).
- Caveat
- EN verified; translation forms unverified. Evidence is particularly relevant to systemic family/couple therapy.
Form License source
Protective Factors Survey, original PFS
Public domainLicense wording
“You may download and use the PFS free of charge.”
The publisher or author says no permission is needed.
20 core items10-15 minFamily strengths; parenting protection
- Scoring
- Reverse according to manual; calculate four protective-factor subscale means. No overall total; Knowledge of Parenting items are analyzed individually.
- Named by funders
- ACF/CBCAP, through FRIENDS technical assistance/development.
- Validity
- Counts et al., 2010, Child Abuse & Neglect 34:762-772; reliability and construct/criterion evidence (developer technical evidence).
- Caveat
- EN; validated Spanish adaptation. Staff/demographic sections are optional for scale validity, keeping the core within the length limit. Published timing corroborated by CEBC.
Form License source
Parental Stress Scale (PSS)
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“The PSS is in the public domain”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
18 items<10 minParenting stress
- Scoring
- Reverse 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18; sum 18-90, lower = less stress.
- Named by funders
- OJJDP-funded National Mentoring Resource Center resource; not a grant mandate.
- Validity
- Berry & Jones, 1995, J Social and Personal Relationships 12:463-472; later construct-validity qualifications.
- Caveat
- EN; translations. The source also requires permission for adaptations or derivatives and asks users to register use with the author; treat those conditions as operative. Different from the paid Parenting Stress Index and from Cohen's Perceived Stress Scale.
Form License source
Family APGAR
Free, with conditionsLicense wording
“in the public domain and can be used without further permission”
Free to use under stated conditions; read the quoted license before using it.
5 items1-2 min (estimated)unverifiedSatisfaction with family functioning
- Scoring
- For this form, sum five 0-2 responses: 0-10, higher = greater satisfaction.
- Named by funders
- None named in the sources opened.
- Validity
- Smilkstein, Ashworth & Montano, 1982, J Family Practice 15:303-311. IFNA also documents conflicting construct-validity findings.
- Caveat
- EN; Spanish, Chinese, Japanese. Developers should be acknowledged. This statement comes from IFNA's measure review, not an opened original-owner license. Measures perceived satisfaction; it should not be treated as a definitive diagnosis of family dysfunction.
Form License source
Looks free, is not 15
Each of these circulates widely and carries a licensing restriction. The wording is quoted from the publisher's page.
- Client Satisfaction Questionnaire, CSQ-8. Use requires "express written permission" and "remission of use fees." Applies to service and research use. It also measures satisfaction, not outcome change. Licensing page
- Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, MMAS-8 / MMAS-4. Owner license pricing posts fees of $7 per MMAS-8 administration and $4 per MMAS-4 administration, with other licensing arrangements. Licensing page
- Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, CD-RISC. The author's request form refers to "terms of use and payment details"; PhenX confirms a licensing agreement is required. Current owner-site pricing is unverified because those sites did not open. Licensing page
- Outcome Rating Scale, ORS. Agency and group paper licenses carry fees; electronic or digital use is excluded from that license. Not universally paid, but not blanket-free for a nonprofit agency. Licensing page
- Session Rating Scale, SRS. Same agency-fee and electronic-use restrictions as the ORS. It also measures therapeutic alliance rather than participant outcomes. Licensing page
- SDQ embedded in your digital product. Electronic reproduction requires authorization and may involve payment. This does not invalidate the conditional paper-use entry in the instrument list. Licensing page
- PRAPARE embedded in a platform. Developer agreements are listed at $5,000 per year (regular) or $10,000 per year (enterprise). Royalty-free end-user agreements are a separate category. These are the published 2024 terms, not a verified 2026 quotation. Licensing page
- North Carolina Family Assessment Scale, General Services (NCFAS-G). The license is issued to the purchasing agency, and cost depends on the number of workers using it. Viewing a sample is not permission to administer. Licensing page
- Parenting Stress Index, 4th ed., Short Form (PSI-4-SF). The publisher's purchase page lists paid materials. Its 36 items also exceed the 30-item length limit. Licensing page
- BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS). The publisher page lists paid forms and digital administrations and Qualification Level B. Short administration and simple completion do not make it public domain. Licensing page
- Drug Abuse Screening Test, DAST-10. The instrument is under copyright: "Copyright 1982 by Harvey A. Skinner, PhD, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada." The PhenX page allows reproduction "for non-commercial use (clinical, research, training purposes)" with credit to the author, and says it "may be obtained through" CAMH. Conditional, not unrestricted; CAMH's own terms were not opened. Licensing page
- Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Beck Anxiety Inventory. The publisher sells it: the Pearson page lists the BDI-2 Complete Kit (Print) at $195.70, with items from $3.90, and shows Qualification level B. Licensing page
- Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). PAR publishes it and the site states "All rights reserved." A modified version requires a permission request to PAR. Licensing page
- Outcomes Star (family of Stars). The site refers to licence holders and states "all Outcomes Star licence holders must complete our core training programme." A licence is required; the page opened does not state fees. Licensing page
- PROMIS short forms embedded in an electronic platform. The PROMIS terms state "Permission to use PROMIS INSTRUMENTS does NOT grant permission to modify the wording or layout of items," or "to distribute to others for a fee, or to translate items into any other language." The need for HealthMeasures Electronic Administration Permission (HEAP) when embedding in a platform comes from secondary sources and was not found in the terms page. Licensing page