This Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a health tool commonly used by health professionals to explore how much stress clients feel in their day-to-day life. Higher scores on this stress questionnaire are correlated with many health concerns, including depression and vulnerability to cold viruses.

The good news is that PSS scores can improve quickly – in as few as 4 to 8 weeks! If your life stress is high, consider using this questionnaire to monitor how well you’re doing every couple of months, after you’ve implemented some important life changes.

Consider how you’ve been feeling during this most recent month. Rate each of the following questions from 0 to 4, where 0 = never, 1 = almost never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = fairly often, and 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?

Scoring Instructions:*

1. 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

2. Add up your scores for each item to get a total score.

Scores ranging from 0 to 13 are considered low stress.

Scores ranging from 14 to 26 are considered moderate stress.

Scores ranging from 27 to 40 are considered high perceived stress.

*Your scores can not be used to diagnose or treat health concerns. If you have concerns about your scores or the amount of stress in your life, please reach out – we’re here to help! You can find some more information about our approach and the supports we offer for people experiencing high levels of stress.

Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., and Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 386-396.