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Perceived Stress Scale

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Measure Definition:

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a measure of the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as stressful. PSS items were designed to tap the degree to which respondents found their lives unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloading. These three issues have been repeatedly found to be central components of the experience of stress (Averill, 1973; Cohen, 1978; Glass and Singer, 1972; Lazarus, 1966, 1977; Seligman, 1975). The scale also includes a number of direct queries about current levels of experienced stress. The PSS is composed of 14 items measured from 0 (never) to 4 (very often). PSS scores are obtained by reversing the scores on the seven positive items, e.g., 0=4, 1=3, 2=2, etc., and then summing across all 14 items. Items 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 13 are the positively stated items. 

Construct:

Cognition

Construct Definition (and Source):

The mental process of knowing, thinking, learning and judging; the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning. (NCI)

Selected References

Citation PubMed ID

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
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