The PSS-10 measures how unpredictable, uncontrollable and overloaded a person has found their life over the last month. This page covers its structure, the reverse-scoring rule, how to score it from exported data, and the permission steps before you build it.
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
Perceived stress · Week 8
Subject 003-0017 · Demo study · last month
Item 1 (negatively worded)
PSS01Never to very often
Item 4 (positively worded, reverse-scored)
PSS04Stored as entered, reversed in analysis
PSS-10 at a glance
Licensing
Free, with conditionsRights holder: RST Assessments, LLC (distributed by Mapi Research Trust, ePROVIDE)The Perceived Stress Scale (Cohen, Kamarck and Mermelstein, 1983) is copyrighted, and ePROVIDE bars copying, translating or modifying it without written permission. Submitting a permission request is free. Non-profit academic research and education are widely described as not needing permission, while commercial and funded use generally needs a licence agreement and may carry a user fee. Confirm the terms for your use in writing.
In Capture: Capture doesn't supply this instrument or a licence for it. Once you have both, enter the official wording yourself, then switch on "Licence required" in the questionnaire's settings and record the licence number and expiry. Staff see a "copyright approval pending" watermark until you do, and Capture stops new data collection on the questionnaire after the recorded expiry date.
Mapi Research Trust (ePROVIDE)Instrument names belong to their rights holders, and Capture is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Terms change, so confirm them with the rights holder before your study starts. This is general information, not legal advice.
The instrument
The PSS is built on the idea that stress is not only what happens to a person but how they appraise it. Its items ask how unpredictable, uncontrollable and overloaded respondents find their lives. That makes it a good fit for trials of behavioural, mindfulness, exercise, sleep and workplace interventions, and for studies that test whether a drug or device changes how people cope. It is also used as a covariate in studies of cardiometabolic, immune and pain outcomes where stress is a plausible confounder.
Choose the PSS-10 over the 14-item and 4-item versions when your population's literature already uses it, since the 10-item form is the most widely reported. If you need a depression or anxiety severity endpoint instead, use the PHQ-9 or GAD-7; for wellbeing, the WHO-5; for distress in medically ill populations, the HADS. For a three-part depression, anxiety and stress profile see the DASS-21.
Code each answer 0 to 4 as entered. For the four positively worded items (4, 5, 7 and 8) subtract the entered value from 4 before adding. Then sum all ten. A score of 0 means the lowest possible perceived stress and 40 the highest. Capture stores each answer as its coded value with the label alongside. The PSS total is not one of Capture's built-in calculated fields (which are a fixed set of clinical derivations such as BMI and eGFR), so you reverse and sum in your analysis program from the export, using the data dictionary to identify the PSS items.
Many papers describe 0 to 13 as low, 14 to 26 as moderate and 27 to 40 as high perceived stress. These bands are a convention drawn from normative data, not clinical cut-offs, so a protocol should define its own analysis rule, usually the continuous total or the change from baseline.
The most common error is summing the raw values. Keep entered values untouched in the database, create the reversed variables in the analysis dataset, and document the derivation in the statistical analysis plan so a reviewer can reproduce the total.
Week 8 total score
17 / 40
Structure
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Items | 10, each about feelings and thoughts over the last month |
| Response format | Five frequency options from never to very often, coded 0 to 4 |
| Reverse-scored items | 4, 5, 7 and 8 (positively worded) |
| Total score | Sum of ten items after reversing: 0 to 40 |
| Recall period | The last month; a shorter period is a modification and needs permission |
| Conventional bands | 0 to 13 lower, 14 to 26 moderate, 27 to 40 higher (not diagnostic) |
| Who completes it | The participant, on paper or electronically |
| Rights | Copyrighted; request permission through ePROVIDE (see licensing) |
Structure only. Get the items, answer labels and official translations from the rights holder.
Run it as ePRO
The PSS-10 is self-report, so it belongs in the participant's hands. Capture sends a secure link by email or SMS that opens in the phone browser, tied to the participant's record. There is no app to install.
Evening diary
Question 3 of 8
How would you rate your fatigue today?
0 = no fatigue, 10 = worst imaginable
Licensing
On a participant questionnaire the study team can switch on "Licence required" and record the licence number, holder and expiry. Until the number and expiry are entered, staff see a "copyright approval pending" watermark in the builder, preview and PDF. Nothing is blocked while details are missing, so the discipline is yours. After the recorded expiry date no new tasks are generated and submissions are rejected, with an amber warning for staff 30 days before. Capture does not verify licences with rights holders and does not supply the PSS wording. If your use needs no permission, keep a note of why with the study documents.
Copyright & licence
Approval pendingLicence number
Not recorded
Expiry date
Not recorded
Watermark shown to staff only. Participants never see it.
Build the form in the free sandbox with placeholder items, schedule it and open the participant link before your permission arrives.
How to build it
Submit a request through Mapi Research Trust's ePROVIDE platform for the PSS-10, stating whether the study is commercial, funded academic or non-profit, and the languages and mode (electronic) you need. Keep the reply with your study documents.
Add 10 single-choice questions with the official answer labels and coded values 0 to 4, in the original item order. Do not recode the reverse-scored items at entry.
Prevents partial submissions so every total uses all ten items.
Name the four items (4, 5, 7, 8) in the variable documentation so the derivation is traceable from the exported data dictionary.
Switch on "Licence required" if your agreement calls for it, then enter number, holder and expiry.
Place it on the visit schedule with a completion window, then submit test responses in the sandbox and score them in your analysis program to check the derivation end to end.
Before go-live
Reply from ePROVIDE or a written rationale for non-profit use, filed with study documents.
Use the rights holder's versions rather than translating locally.
The last month, unless you have written permission to change it.
Items 4, 5, 7 and 8 reversed in the analysis plan, with the missing-item rule.
Visits at least four weeks apart, or the overlap accepted and stated.
The protocol says what, if anything, a high score triggers, for example referral per the adverse event form where relevant.
It depends on the use. The PSS is copyrighted and distributed through Mapi Research Trust's ePROVIDE platform, where a permission request is free to submit. Non-profit academic research and education are widely described as not needing permission, while commercial and funded use generally needs a licence agreement and may carry a user fee. Confirm the current terms in writing.
Items 4, 5, 7 and 8, which are positively worded. Subtract the entered 0 to 4 value from 4 before summing. The other six items are scored as entered.
0 to 40. Higher scores indicate higher perceived stress. Common bands are 0 to 13 low, 14 to 26 moderate and 27 to 40 high, but these are conventions rather than clinical cut-offs.
No. Capture stores coded item values and exports a data dictionary. The reversal and sum are done in your analysis program, because Capture's calculated fields are a fixed set of clinical derivations such as BMI and eGFR.
No. Capture does not supply licensed instruments or their wording. You obtain the items from the rights holder and build them in the form.
The recall period is the last month, so assessments less than four weeks apart cover overlapping time. Many trials assess at baseline and every four weeks or longer.
They measure different things. The PSS-10 captures how overloaded and out of control life feels, while the PHQ-9 grades depressive symptoms. Use the one your endpoint and population literature call for.
Build the form, record your permission and test the participant link. Free sandbox, no credit card.