The Symptom Questionnaire is a simple and quick measure of emotional state; previous work has indicated that the Questionnaire has good reliability and validity. However the original sample on which it was based was small, and exclusively North American. Data from a large sample (N= 707) of British psychiatric inpatients, out‐patients, day hospital attenders, and a non‐patient population sample are presented. Consistent differences between the patient and non‐patient samples were obtained on the scales, with a few exceptions; there were no significant differences due t