[Reliability and validity of the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) (author's transl)].

Reliability, validity and sensibility to variations over time were investigated for a German version of the Visual Analogue Mood Scale (VAS) Re-test reliability was high with r = .98. The correlation with the self-rating "Befindlichkeits-Skala" (Bf-S) was food with r = .79 whereas the correlation with the Hamilton-Depression-Rating-Scale only was r = .49. Sensitivity to mood changes over time was a good as with the Bf-S. According to these results the German version of the VAS can be used for the assessment of actual depressive mood. The main advantage of the scale is it's simplicity.