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Measuring the self-perception of stress
Sheldon Cohen
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is the most widely used psychological instrument for measuring the perception of stress. It is a measure of the degree to which situations in one’s life are appraised as stressful. Items were designed to tap how unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded respondents find their lives. The scale also includes a number of direct queries about current levels of experienced stress. Moreover, the questions are of a general nature and hence are relatively free of content specific to any sub-population group. The questions in the PSS ask about feelings and thoughts during the last month. In each case, respondents are asked how often they felt a certain way.
Perceived Stress Scale
The questions in this scale ask you about your feelings and thoughts
during the last month. In each
case, you will be asked to indicate by circling
how often you felt or thought a certain way.
Name ____________________________________________________________ Date _________
Age ________ Gender (
Circle): M F Other _____________________________________
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?.....................................
0 1 2 3 4
2. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable
to control the important things in your life?......................................................
0 1 2 3 4
3. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and “stressed”? ..............
0 1 2 3 4
4. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability
to handle your personal problems?.................................................................
0 1 2 3 4
5. In the last month, how often have you felt that things
were going your way?......................................................................................
0 1 2 3 4
6. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope
with all the things that you had to do? .............................................................
0 1 2 3 4
7. In the last month, how often have you been able
to control irritations in your life?.......................................................................
0 1 2 3 4
8. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?.....
0 1 2 3 4
9. In the last month, how often have you been angered
because of things that were outside of your control? .....................................
0 1 2 3 4
10. In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties
were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?............................
0 1 2 3 4
Please feel free to use the
Perceived Stress Scale for your research. The PSS Manual is in the process
of development, please let us know if you are interested in contributing.
Mind Garden, Inc.
1690 Woodside Road, Suite #202
Redwood City, CA 94061 USA
Phone: (650) 261-3500 Fax: (650) 261-3505
e-mail:
mindgarden@msn.com
References
The PSS Scale is reprinted with permission of the American Sociological Association, from Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., and Mermelstein, R. (1983). A
global measure of perceived stress.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 386-396.
Cohen, S. and Williamson, G. Perceived Stress in a Probability Sample of the
Links > http://www.ncsu.edu/assessment/resources/perceived_stress_scale.pdf
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceived_Stress_Scale
> http://www.mindgarden.com/products/pss.htm
| 12 years ago. Rating: 3 | |
Colleen
