Perceived Stress Scale

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Instrument Overview

Expert Notes AvailableView expert commentary on strengths and cautions for this instrument
Strengths

Broadly validated measure of students’ perceived stress. Used across college and educational settings. 10-item version available.

Cautions

Not education-specific: Measures general stress rather than school-related stressors. Captures perceptions, not specific causes: Scores do not identify whether stress comes from academics, finances, relationships, or other factors.

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a 14-item survey instrument. It measures a person's global level of perceived stress. Specifically, it assesses the degree to which an individual appraises situations in their life as stressful. The PSS uses Likert-style items to determine how unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overwhelming students find their lives. The tool is intended for use with individuals who have at least a junior high school education. It serves as a quick assessment to understand a student's feelings and reactions to things outside of their control. The PSS is considered an economical tool because it can be administered in a few minutes and is easy to score. There is also a shorter four-item version of the scale available for use in telephone interviews.

Organization

Topic
Student Well-Being
Collection(s): Self-Directed Learning
Collection Category(ies)
Motivation
Tags
Motivation,
Stress and coping

Content

Grades
Post secondary
Respondent
Student

Administration Information

Length
14 items

Access and Use

Link
https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/psychology/stress-immunity-disease-lab/scales/html…
Use in Research

Häfner, A., Stock, A., & Oberst, V. (2015). Decreasing students’ stress through time management training: An intervention study. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 30(1), 81–94.

Pascoe, M. C., Hetrick, S. E., & Parker, A. G. (2020). The impact of stress on students in secondary school and higher education. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 25(1), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2019.1596823

Psychometrics (additional guidance)

Reliability

.84 (full scale) (Cronbach's alpha)

Psychometric References

Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404

Roberti, J. W., Harrington, L. N., & Storch, E. A. (2006). Further psychometric support for the 10-item version of the Perceived Stress Scale. Journal of College Counseling, 9(2), 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-1882.2006.tb00100.x

Reis, R. S., Hino, A. A. F., & Añez, C. R. R. (2010). Perceived stress scale: Reliability and validity study in Brazil. Journal of Health Psychology, 15(1), 107–114. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105309346343

Lee, E. H. (2012). Review of the psychometric evidence of the Perceived Stress Scale. Asian Nursing Research, 6(4), 121–127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anr.2012.08.004

Denovan, A., Dagnall, N., Dhingra, K., & Grogan, S. (2019). Evaluating the Perceived Stress Scale among UK university students: Implications for stress measurement and management. Studies in Higher Education, 44(1), 120–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1340445

Item Type
Likert