Table 2.

Study measures: Items, content, score range, and cut-offs (if applicable)

Scale	Number of Items	Content	Score Range*	Cut-offs
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (20)	9	Consists of the 9 criteria for diagnosis of major depression and minor depression (DSM-IV and 5); provides a provisional diagnosis and also a symptom severity. Two modifications were made: 1) we excluded 3 items if ALS- related: difficulty sleeping, difficulty eating, and moving or speaking so slowly others noticed and pro-rated the total score accordingly; 2) The original PHQ item, "thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way" was split in 2 parts: "thoughts that you'd be better off dead," and "thoughts of ending your life." Only the item with the higher score is included in total score. Time frame: past 2 weeks.	0 - 27	>10 = absent/mild 10 – 14 = moderate 15 – 19 = moderately severe 20+ = severe
Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) (23)	10	10 items from 20-item scale regarding future orientation; scores doubled to compare to norms. True/false response format	0 - 20	>8 = absent/mild 9 – 14 = moderate 15+ = severe
Positive and Negative Affect Scales (PANAS) (24)	20	Each subscale has 10 adjectives, scored 1 = "not at all" to 5 = "extremely." Scale scores are sum of items.	1 - 50
Global Assessment of Recent Stress (GARS) (25)	7	Each of 7 domains is rated on a 10-point scale	7 - 70
Endicott Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (26)	11	Items are about specific areas of everyday living with a 5- point response scale.	11 - 55
Manne Positive and Negative Partner Support (27)	15	8 negative support items and 7 positive items assessing both instrumental and emotional support or lack of it. 4- point response options scored 1-4.	8 - 32 7 - 28
Visual Analog Scales (12)	11	Each scale represents one of the domains covered by the other scales, so that patients with diminished communication can still respond. Each is scores 1-10 with anchors Examples: depression, pleasure, suffering, hope for the future.	1 - 10

^*Note: Higher scores represent a greater endorsement of the construct being measured.