Sample پرسشنامه استرس ادراک‌شده کوهن (PSS-10)

What does the PSS-10 measure?

The degree to which people appraise their life over the last month as unpredictable, uncontrollable and overloaded — perceived stress rather than a count of stressful events. Six items are worded negatively and four positively.

Number of items

10

Time to complete

2–3 minutes

Score range

0 to 40

Reversed items

4, 5, 7, 8

Response scale

Five options: never (0), almost never (1), sometimes (2), fairly often (3), very often (4)

Authors

Sheldon Cohen, Tom Kamarck and Robin Mermelstein, 1983; 10-item version: Cohen and Williamson, 1988

Scoring the PSS-10

1. 1.Never = 0, almost never = 1, sometimes = 2, fairly often = 3, very often = 4.
2. 2.Positive items 4, 5, 7 and 8 are reverse-scored: never = 4, almost never = 3, sometimes = 2, fairly often = 1, very often = 0.
3. 3.The total is the sum of the ten items, from 0 to 40; higher means more perceived stress.
4. 4.In this template the reversed scores are already set on the options and a calculated field adds them up with SCORE().

Interpreting PSS-10 scores

The PSS is not diagnostic and Cohen set no cut-offs; these three ranges are a common teaching convention. In research, treat the score as continuous and compare group means.

PSS-10 validity and reliability

• In the 1983 article (14-item version), coefficient alpha was .84 to .86 across three samples.
• In the same article, PSS scores correlated with depressive symptoms, physical symptoms and use of health services.
• Cohen and Williamson (1988) examined the 10-item version in a US national probability sample (2,387 people) and recommended it for future use.

Source and translation

Original instrument: Sheldon Cohen, Tom Kamarck and Robin Mermelstein, 1983; 10-item version: Cohen and Williamson, 1988

• 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 (pp. 31–67). Sage.

Free to use without permission for non-profit research and teaching; cite the source.

Translated by Porsino; for formal research, cite a validated (normed) Persian version.