Instrument reference
Perceived Stress Scale (10-item) (PSS-10)
Permission required (free request) Licence statement checked
- Construct measured
- The degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful — unpredictable, uncontrollable and overloading.
- Category
- Stress and well-being
- Intended population
- Adults; versions of 14, 10 and 4 items exist.
- Number of items
- 10 items in this version.
- Administration format
- Self-report questionnaire.
- Scoring approach
- Includes reverse-scored items; follow the rights holder's materials. This catalogue does not reproduce items or scoring tables.
- Language and population validation
- Non-English translations are the intellectual property of their translators, according to the developer lab.
Reliability and validity evidence
- Original article introduced the scale as a global measure of perceived stress. — Cohen et al. (1983)
Interpretation cautions
- Measures appraisal of stress, not a disorder.
- Has no diagnostic cut-off; comparisons should use appropriate normative data.
Copyright and licence
Permission required (free request)
The developer lab directs permission requests to MAPI Research Trust's ePROVIDE platform and states that submitting a request is free of charge.
Use requires a permission request through the named rights holder or distributor, even where no fee is charged.
Official source
Cohen lab scales page (CMU) (opens in a new tab)
Rights and evidence last verified: 2026-10-19.