Brunnsviken Brief Quality of life scale (BBQ)

The Brunnsviken Brief Quality of life scale (BBQ) is a modern, validated self-rating scale for subjective quality of life, that is free to use for clinicians and researchers alike. There are no licensing costs and authors are encouraged to submit new translations into other languages. The BBQ was developed by researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University (two universities situated next to lake Brunnsviken) for use with both clinical and non-clinical samples, in both research and clinical practice. The BBQ is quick and easy to administer and score, taps overall self-experienced quality of life, and has been professionally translated into most major languages. You can download a free copy on this page (see below).

A paper describing the development and psychometric validation of the BBQ was published open access (i.e. access available for everyone for free) in February 2016. An additional study is currently underway, describing the psychometric validation of the BBQ in five novel languages. An additional study will examine whether the psychometric properties differ between pen-and-paper and online administration.

Update 1: BBQ has now achieved a citation rate that places it in the top 5% (the 95th percentile) in Scopus, demonstrating significant influence in the field of outcomes research.

Update 2: New paper on cutoffs just published: Hlynsson, J. I., Lindner, P., Barri, B., & Carlbring, P. (2024). Exploring cutoff points and measurement invariance of the Brunnsviken brief quality of life inventory. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1305682

 

In the spotlight: BBQ is used in RCTs! Here is the latest:

Hagberg, T., Manhem, P., Oscarsson, M., Michel, F., Andersson, G., & Carlbring, P. (2023). Efficacy of transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy for assertiveness: A randomized controlled trial. Internet Interventions, 32, 100629. doi:10.1016/j.invent.2023.100629

Download the BBQ

As of right now, the BBQ has been psychometrically evaluated in the following languages (click to download PDF):

Translations into the following languages have been done by professional translators (click to download PDF):

Scoring procedure

Simply multiply the Satisfaction and Importance rating for each life area  and sum the six products for a total quality of life score ((items 1 * 2) + (items 3 * 4) and so forth).
For more information – see our 2024 paper:

Reference studies

A first paper describing the development and psychometric validation of the BBQ (the original Swedish version) was published in the journal Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and can be accessed open-access here. Click here to download the PDF directly. Here is the reference:

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