Perceived Stress Scale 14

• The PSS-14 is comprised of 14 items intended to measure how unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded individuals find their life circumstances.
• Individuals rate items on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 0 – “Never” to 4 – “Very often.”
• Scores range from 0-56, with higher scores indicating greater perceived stress.
• The PSS-14 is not a diagnostic instrument; therefore, there are no cut-off scores.
• Respondents’ scores on the PSS-14 are intended to be compared to the larger sample.
• Scores are obtained by reverse scoring the positively stated items (4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 13) and then summing the scores across all 14 items.
• The PSS-14 can be administered to anyone who has greater than a middle school education.
• The PSS-14 can be administered in person, mailed out, or conducted over the phone.

Smoking Cessation (calculated from Cohen, Kamark, & Mermelstein, 1983)

** (n= 64, Mean Age= 38.4, SD= 11.57; were adminstered the PSS at two time points including at baseline and then again 6 weeks later. NOTE: the PSS that was adminstered at time two consisted of only 4 of the original 14 items including items 2, 6, 7, and 14).

Smoking Cessation (calculated from Cohen, Kamark, & Mermelstein, 1983)

** (n= 64, Mean Age= 38.4, SD= 11.57; were adminstered the PSS at two time points including at baseline and then again 6 weeks later. NOTE: the PSS that was adminstered at time two consisted of only 4 of the original 14 items including items 2, 6, 7, and 14).

• Total Score at 95% CI: MDC= 14.88

College Students (Cohen, Kamark, & Mermelstein, 1983)

Sample One (n= 332, Mean Age= 19.01, SD= 2.75)

• Total Score: Mean= 23.18, SD= 7.31

Sample Two (n= 114, Mean Age= 20.75, SD= 4.41)

• Total Score: Mean= 23.67, SD= 7.79 

Smoking Cessation (Cohen, Kamark, & Mermelstein, 1983)

** (n= 64, Mean Age= 38.4, SD= 11.57)

• Total Score: Mean= 25, SD= 8.00

College Students (Cohen, Kamark, & Mermelstein, 1983) 

• Excellent (r= .85), retested 82 student two days later

Smoking Cessation (Cohen, Kamark, & Mermelstein, 1983) 

Sample of individuals in a smoking cessation program (n= 64, Mean Age= 38.4, SD= 11.57) 

• Adequate (r= .55); retested 64 participants 6 weeks later

College Students (Cohen, Kamark, & Mermelstein, 1983)

• College Sample 1: Excellent (Cronbach’s Alpha= .84) 
• College Sample 2: Excellent (Cronbach’s Alpha= .85) 
• Smoking Cessation Group: Excellent (Cronbach’s Alpha= .86)

Predictive validity

College Students (Cohen et al., 1983) 

• Correlation between PSS and social anxiety
  • College 1: Adequate (r= .37, p<.001)<>
    
  • College 2: Adequate (r= .48, p<.001) <>
    
• Correlation between PSS and physical symptomatology
  • College 1: Poor (r= .16, p<.01)<>
    
  • College 2: Poor (r= .17, p= .07) 
• Correlation between PSS and health care utilization (physical illness visits after administration, with before administration visits partialled out)
  • College 1: Poor (r= .15, p<.007)<>
    
  • College 2: Poor (r= -.02, p= .07) 

Smoking Cessation (Cohen et al., 1983) 

• Correlation between PSS and the average number of cigarettes smoked per day at one month: Adequate (r= .31, p<.01)>Adequate (r= .37, p<.001)>
  

College Students (Cohen et al., 1983) 

Two samples of undergraduate college students: (1) College Sample (n= 332, Mean Age= 19.01, SD= 2.75), (2) College Sample (n= 114, Mean Age= 20.75, SD= 4.41) 

• Correlation between PSS and Number of Life Events (Life Event Scale): 
  • College Sample 1: Poor (r= .20, p<.01)<>
    
  • College Sample 2: Poor (r= .17, p= n.s.) 
• Correlation between PSS and Impact of Life Events (Life Event Scale): 
  • College Sample 1: Adequate (r= .35, p<.01)<>
    
  • College Sample 2: Poor (r= .24, p<.01)<>
    

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) (Gerhart, Weitzenkamp, Kennedy, Glass, & Charlifue, 1999) 

** ( sample: n= 187; Mean Age= 53.6) 

Overall Sample: Mean= 18.02, SD= 8.43 

Age Groups:

• <50:>
  
•  50-59: Mean= 18.76, SD= 8.99
• 60-69: Mean= 16.47, SD= 7.72
• >69: Mean= 13.27, 6.66 

Gender: 

• Men: Mean= 17.76, SD= 8.57
• Women: Mean= 19.62, SD= 7.45 

Impairment Group:

• Tetra ASIA ABC: Mean= 18.16, SD= 9.23 
• Para ASIA ABC: Mean= 18.01, SD= 7.90
• All ASIA D: Mean= 17.81, SD= 8.65

SCI (Gerhart et al., 1999) 

Concurrent Validity

**(Assessed a sample of individuals with SCI to assess the relationship between severity of disability and perceived stress, and to identify correlates of future stress and outcomes of previous stress at two time points: Baseline (1993) and three year follow-up (1996); n = 187, Mean Age= 53.6 years) 

Baseline (1993)

• Life Satisfaction (LSI-Z): Poor (r= -0.275)
• Depression (CES-D): Excellent (r= 0.645)
• Psychological Well-being: Adequate (r= 0.461)
• Perceived Quality of Life: Adequate (r= -0.353) 

Three Year Follow-Up (1996)

• Life Satisfaction (LSI-Z): Adequate (r= -0.374) 
• Depression (CES-D): Excellent (r= 0.713) 
• Psychological Well-being: Adequate (r= 0.536)
• Perceived Quality of Life: Adequate (r= -0.444)

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) (Bay, Kalpakjian, & Giordani, 2012) 

** (n= 159 traumatic brain injury patients; Mean Age= 37.81, SD= 11.91) 

Younger Sample (n= 81; Age <10)<>

• Total Score: Mean= 26.14, SD= 8.91 

Older Sample (n= 78; Age<78)<>

• Total Score: Mean= 26.13, SD= 26.12

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) (Bay, Kalpakjian & Giordani, 2012)

Patients with mild or moderate TBI 1 to36 months post-injury (n= 159, Mean Age= 37.81, SD= 11.91) 

• Excellent (Cronbach’s Alpha= .87)

TBI (Bay et al., 2012) 

• PSS significantly predicted self-reported memory complaints: Adequate(B= .59, p= .01)