Protocol - Perceived Stress
Description
This 10-item self-administered scale is used to measure an individual’s level of perceived stress in the past month. As a result, it measures only current (not chronic) levels of perceived stress. The response options for each feeling or thought indicate the frequency with which it occurred: 0 = Never; 1 = Almost Never; 2 = Sometimes; 3 = Fairly Often; 4 = Very Often.
Specific Instructions
The 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and scoring are available from Dr. Cohen’s laboratory through the Carnegie Mellon University Department of Psychology website. Permission for use of scales is not necessary when use is for nonprofit academic research or educational purposes.
The PSS is not a diagnostic instrument, and there are no cut-offs for classification of responders into "high," "medium," or "low" stress. It is generally used as an ordinal scale or count measure.
Psychometric properties have not been collected on other time periods.
The PSS was designed for use with community samples with at least a junior high school education.
There are also 4- and 14-item versions of this scale available. The 10-item scale is recommended because it has been psychometrically tested, has been used in large population-based studies, and represents low respondent burden.
Availability
Protocol
The Perceived Stress Scale includes 10 questions about the persons feelings and thoughts during the past month. The response options for each feeling or thought indicate the frequency with which it occurred: 0 = Never; 1 = Almost Never; 2 = Sometimes; 3 = Fairly Often; 4 = Very Often. Scoring instructions are available on the Carnegie Mellon website.
Personnel and Training Required
The interviewer must be trained to conduct personal interviews with individuals from the general population. The interviewer must be trained and found to be competent (i.e., tested by an expert) at the completion of personal interviews. The interviewer should be trained to prompt respondents further if a "don’t know" response is provided.
Equipment Needs
These questions can be administered in a computerized or noncomputerized format (i.e., paper-and-pencil instrument). Computer software is necessary to develop computer-assisted instruments. A laptop computer/handheld computer will be needed to administer a computer-assisted questionnaire.
Requirements
| Requirement Category | Required |
|---|---|
| Major equipment | No |
| Specialized training | No |
| Specialized requirements for biospecimen collection | No |
| Average time of greater than 15 minutes in an unaffected individual | No |
Mode of Administration
Self-administered or interviewer-administered questionnaire
Lifestage
Adult
Participants
Ages 18 years and older
Selection Rationale
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is the most widely used index of perceived stress. The scale has good reliability and validity and has been used in many settings.
Language
Chinese, English
Standards
| Standard | Name | ID | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) | Perceived stress proto | 64394-0 | LOINC |
| Human Phenotype Ontology | Triggered by stress | HP:0025226 | HPO |
| caDSR Form | PhenX PX180801 - Perceived Stress | 6189450 | caDSR Form |
Derived Variables
None
Process and Review
Expert Review Panel 4 (ERP 4) reviewed the measures in the Neurology, Psychiatric, and Psychosocial domains.
Guidance from ERP 4 included the following:
· No changes
Protocol Name from Source
Perceived Stress Scale
Source
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: Claremont Symposium on applied social psychology. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
General References
Cohen, S. (1986). Contrasting the hassle scale and the perceived stress scale. American Psychologist, 41, 716-719.
Cohen, S., & Janicki-Deverts, D. (2012). Who’s stressed? Distributions of psychological stress in the United States in probability samples from 1983, 2006, and 2009. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(6), 1320-1334.
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385-396.
Cole, S. (1999). Assessment of differential item functioning in the Perceived Stress Scale-10. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, 53, 319-320.
Extremera, N., Durán, A., & Rey, L. (2009). The moderating effect of trait meta-mood and perceived stress on life satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(2), 116-121.
Hamer, M., Molloy, G. J., & Stamatakis, E. (2008). Psychological distress as a risk factor for cardiovascular events: Pathophysiological and behavioral mechanisms. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 52(25), 2156-2162.
Yu, R., & Ho, S. C. (2010). Psychometric evaluation of the perceived stress scale in early postmenopausal Chinese women. Psychology, 1, 1-8.
Protocol ID
180801
Variables
Export Variables| Variable Name | Variable ID | Variable Description | dbGaP Mapping | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PX180801_Able_To_Control_Irritations | ||||
| PX180801070000 | In the last month, how often have you been more | Variable Mapping | ||
| PX180801_Angered_By_Things_Outside_Control | ||||
| PX180801090000 | In the last month, how often have you been more | N/A | ||
| PX180801_Could_Not_Cope_With_AllThings | ||||
| PX180801060000 | In the last month, how often have you found more | N/A | ||
| PX180801_Difficulties_Piling_Up | ||||
| PX180801100000 | In the last month, how often have you felt more | Variable Mapping | ||
| PX180801_Felt_Confident_To_Handle_Problems | ||||
| PX180801040000 | In the last month, how often have you felt more | Variable Mapping | ||
| PX180801_Felt_Nervous_And_Stressed | ||||
| PX180801030000 | In the last month, how often have you felt more | Variable Mapping | ||
| PX180801_Felt_On_Top_Of_Things | ||||
| PX180801080000 | In the last month, how often have you felt more | N/A | ||
| PX180801_Felt_Things_Going_Your_Way | ||||
| PX180801050000 | In the last month, how often have you felt more | Variable Mapping | ||
| PX180801_Unable_To_Control_Important_Things | ||||
| PX180801020000 | In the last month, how often have you felt more | Variable Mapping | ||
| PX180801_Upset_Because_Of_Unexpected | ||||
| PX180801010000 | In the last month, how often have you been more | N/A | ||
Measure Name
Perceived Stress
Release Date
December 13, 2010
Definition
This is a measure of the degree to which situations in one’s life in the past month are appraised as stressful.
Purpose
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a nonspecific stress appraisal. The results may be used to examine the association between stress and the etiology of disease and/or behavioral disorders. Perceived stress has been associated with cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality and premature death. PSS has also been seen as relevant to health and illness behaviors (e.g., the use of formal health care).
Keywords
Psychosocial, stress
Measure Protocols
| Protocol ID | Protocol Name |
|---|---|
| 180801 | Perceived Stress |
Publications
Garrison-Desany, H. M., et al. (2024) Post-traumatic stress and future substance use outcomes: leveraging antecedent factors to stratify risk Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2024 March; 15. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1249382
Xing, C., et al. (2023) Reducing tobacco-associated lung cancer risk: a study protocol for a randomized clinical trial of AB-free kava. Trials. 2023 January; 24(1): 1-14. doi: 10.1186/s13063-023-07081-x
Hitz, M.M., Conway, P.G, Palcher, J.A., McCarty, C.A. (2014) Using PhenX toolkit measures and other tools to assess urban/rural differences in health behaviors: recruitment methods and outcomes. BMC Research Notes. 2014 November; 7(847). doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-847