Measurement Characteristics of the Perceived Stress Scale in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury

The original Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a 14-item self-report measure designed to assess the extent to which individuals judge their life circumstances as stressful.¹ PSS items are not bound to a specific life event or clinical condition; therefore, assessment of stress is broad, allowing for use in diverse populations and across different contexts.² Respondents are asked to contemplate the past month and then indicate how often they have felt that their lives are unpredictable or uncontrollable using a 5-point Likert-type scale, with a response set ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (very often). Although the PSS-14 has demonstrated adequate psychometric properties, 2 short-form versions have also been developed: a 10-item version,^{2.,  3.} derived from the 14-item scale using factor analysis techniques, and a 4-item version for use in brief interview situations.^{1.,  4.} Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support a 2-factor structure, with the first encompassing positive, coping-related questions and the second involving negatively worded, stress-related questions.⁵ The PSS has shown to be a reliable and valid measure of perceived psychosocial stress,⁶ demonstrates adequate to excellent criterion and construct validity with similar measures of life experience and stress,¹ and has been used in a diverse range of clinical and nonclinical populations.^{2.,  3.,  4.,  5.,  6.,  7.,  8.,  9.,  10.} In addition, versions of the PSS have been translated and validated in more than 25 languages.¹¹