MAYSI-2 Scales

Answers to MAYSI-2 items contribute to six clinical scales and one additional “Traumatic Experiences” scale.  (Various scales have 5, 6, 8, or 9 items.) Youths’ yes/no responses are transferred via a Scoring Form to produce scores on each of the seven scales. Those are recorded on a Summary Form.  (A few MAYSI-2 items do not contribute to any scale but were included for research purposes.) 

The following are the six clinical scales and their meanings:

Alcohol/Drug Use (AD)
Identifies youths who may be using alcohol or drugs to a significant degree, and who are therefore at risk of substance dependence and/or abuse.
Angry-Irritable (AI)
Assesses explicit feelings of preoccupying anger, a general tendency toward irritability, frustration, impulsive reactions, and tension related to anger.
Depressed-Anxious (DA)
Elicits symptoms of mixed depressed mood and anxiety.
Somatic Complaints (SC)
Assesses presence of various bodily aches and pains that may affect the youth, especially those often associated with anxiety.
Suicide Ideation (SI)
Specifically identifies thoughts and intentions about self-harm and depressive symptoms that may present an increased risk for suicide.
Thought Disturbance (TD)
Boys only
Assesses the possibility of serious mental disorder involving distortion of reality. (Original development of the MAYSI-2 identified a Thought Disturbance scale demonstrating validity for boys but not girls. A TD score may be calculated for girls, but its meaning is uncertain.)

The additional seventh scale is Traumatic Experiences (TE). While this scale is not known to assess a clinical condition, like PTSD, it identifies youths who may have had greater exposure than other youths to potentially traumatizing events but not necessarily whether they were traumatized.