Background: The symptom checklist SCL-27-plus is a short, multidimensional screening instrument for mental health problems. It contains five scales on current symptoms: depressive, vegetative, agoraphobic, and sociophobic symptoms and pain; a global severity index (GSI-27); a lifetime assessment for depressive symptoms; and a screening question for suicidality.

Method: A reformulated version of screening items constituted a survey of n=374 students. Therefore, a total of 76 items was formulated and presented to the students within a questionnaire booklet, that could be filled out at home.

Results: All scales of the SCL-27-plus showed good to satisfactory reliability (i.e. .90 ≥ Cronbach’s a ≥ .70). The distributions of the scales were less skewed than in older versions of the symptom checklists and scale inter-correlations were lower. The scale “symptoms of mistrust” could not be retained.

Conclusion: The SCL-27-plus demonstrates a clear improvement over the SCL-27. Test-statistical properties were improved. In addition, the supplementation by a lifetime scale for depression and a screener for suicidality shall help the clinician as well as the epidemiologist.