Brief Description

The 10-Item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) is widely used to assess individuals’ perceived stress. It examines how people perceive stressful situations in their lives, taking into account lack of control, the unpredictability of events, and their overall stress levels during the past 4 weeks.

Objective

The aim of the scale is to measure the levels of stress experienced by individuals in order to support understanding of the effects of stress on mental and physical health and to develop appropriate intervention strategies.

Scoring

The PSS-10 includes 10 statements that assess perceived stress using a 5-point Likert scale. The statements relate to individuals’ feelings and thoughts over the past 4 weeks. Examples of statements include how often they felt nervous or under pressure, and how often they felt confident in their ability to handle personal problems.

References

Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396.
Cohen, S., & Williamson, G. (1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States. In S. Spacapan & S. Oskamp (Eds.), The social psychology of health: Claremont Symposium on applied social psychology (pp. 31–67). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.