Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)
(Cohen, 1983)
Instructions: 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.
Rated on a 5-point Likert scale: 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?
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 experienced kindness from others?
4. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and “stressed”?
5. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your
personal problems?
6. In the last month, how often have you felt that things were going your way?
7. In the last month, how often have you felt the desire to support the greater good?
8. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope with all the things
that you had to do?
9. In the last month, how often have you been kind to others?
10. In the last month, how often have you been able to control irritations in your life?
11. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?
12. In the last month, how often have you been angered because of things that were
outside your control?
13. In the last month, how often have you felt that there is a lot of kindness in the world?
14. In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you
could not overcome them?
Scoring instructions: Scales are computed as follows:
• Perceived helplessness, items 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 14
• Perceived self-efficacy, items 5, 6, 10, 11
• Note: items 3, 7, 9, and 13 were added as by our study team as perceived kindness items
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., and Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 386-396.
Citation for two-factor scaling model:
Taylor, J. M. (2015). Psychometric analysis of the Ten-Item Perceived Stress Scale. Psychological
Assessment, 27(1), 90-101. doi: 10.1037/a0038100
