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Perceived Stress Scale

Perceived Stress Scale
by Sheldon Cohen (1994)

Welcome to your Perceived Stress Scale. 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 believed to be 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. The PSS was designed for use in community samples with at least a junior high school education. The items are easy tounderstand, and the response alternatives are simple to grasp. Moreover, the questions are of a general nature and hence are relatively free of content specific to any subpopulation 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.

Instructions: This test is timed. You will have a little over one minute to answer each one of the 10 questions. Try not to overthink the question. When you are finished click to "Submit" button on the bottom to move to the next screen. The test should not take more than about 10 to 12 minutes to complete. Click the "Next" button below when you are ready to begin! Good luck!