Perceived Stress Scale
Take this simple test and measure the stress in your life.
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is the most widely used psychological instrument for measuring perceived stress. Items were designed to measure how unpredictable, uncontrollable, or overloaded you find your life at present. Knowing your current level of stress is the first step in restoring your inner calm.
Instructions:
The questions in this scale ask you about your feelings and thoughts during the last month. In each case, please indicate with a number how often you felt or thought a certain way.
0 = Never 1 = Almost Never 2 = Sometimes 3 = Fairly Often 4 = Very Often
1. In the last month, how often have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly? ___
2. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life? ___
3. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and "stressed"? ___
4. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems? ___
5. In the last month, how often have you felt that things were going your way? ___
6. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope with all the things that you had to do? ___
7. In the last month, how often have you been able to control irritations in your life? ___
8. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things? ___
9. In the last month, how often have you been angered because of things that were outside of your control? ___
10. In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them? ___
Figuring Your PSS Score:
You can determine your PSS score by following these directions:
First, reverse your scores for questions 4, 5, 7, and 8. On these 4 questions, change the scores like this: 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1, 4 = 0.
Now add up your scores for each item to get a total. My total score is ______.
Individual scores on the PSS can range from 0 to 40 with higher scores indicating higher perceived stress.
Scores ranging from 0-13 would be considered low stress.
Scores ranging from 14-26 would be considered moderate stress.
Scores ranging from 27-40 would be considered high perceived stress
References:
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385-396.
Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. (1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States. In S. Spacapam & S. Oskamp (Eds.), The social psychology of health: Claremont Symposium on applied social psychology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.