Perceived Stress Scale
The following questions ask about your feelings and thoughts during THE PAST MONTH. In each question, you will be asked HOW OFTEN you felt or thought a certain way. Although some of the questions are similar, there are small differences between them and you should treat each one as a separate question. The best approach is to answer fairly quickly. That is, don’t try to count up the exact number of times you felt a particular way, but give the answer that in general seems the best.
For each statement, indicate if you have had these thoughts or feelings: never, almost never, sometimes, fairly often, or very often.
For each statement, indicate if you have had these thoughts or feelings: never, almost never, sometimes, fairly often, or very often.
Perceived Stress Scale Scoring
Each item is rated on a 5-point scale ranging from never (0) to almost always (4).
Positively worded items are reverse scored, and the ratings are summed, with higher scores indicating more perceived stress.
PSS-10 scores are obtained by reversing the scores on the four positive items: For example, 0=4, 1=3, 2=2, etc. and then summing across all 10 items. Items 4, 5, 7, and 8 are the positively stated items.
Your Perceived Stress Level was ________
- Scores around 13 are considered average.
- High stress groups usually have a stress score of around 20 points.
- Scores of 20 or higher are considered high stress, and if you are in this range, you might consider learning new stress reduction techniques as well as increasing your exercise to at least three times a week.
High psychological stress is associated with high blood pressure, higher BMI, larger waist to hip ratio, shorter telomere length, higher cortisol levels, suppressed immune function, decreased sleep, and increased alcohol consumption. These are all important risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Average? Schedule a Massage, or not. Stressed? Time for a Massage. High Stress? Definitely time for a Massage and/or a Reset / Stress Buster PACKAGE