Recovery Assessment Scale

What it measures

Measures recovery from serious mental illness as a multidimensional psychological process. Captures hope, agency, help-seeking, goal orientation, and managing symptoms — aligned to the recovery model of mental health care. Widely used in psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery-oriented services research.

Response format

Likert (1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree)

Representative items

• I have goals in my life that I want to reach.
• I believe that I can meet my current personal goals.
• Fear doesn't stop me from living the way I want to. (No Domination by Symptoms)
• I ask for help from others when I need it.
• I am hopeful about my future.

Usage notes & scoring

Freely available from Patrick Corrigan. Five subscale scores and a total. Higher scores = greater psychological recovery. Widely used in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe mental illness research. The Revised Recovery Assessment Scale (RAS-R, 20 items) is also available.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Corrigan, P.W., Giffort, D., Rashid, F., Leary, M., & Okeke, I. (1999). Recovery as a psychological construct. Community Mental Health Journal, 35(3), 231–239.

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