Stress: 8 questionnaires and rating scales
Stress questionnaires are psychometric tools that measure perceived stress and its impact. They help identify sources of strain, assess their intensity and monitor them over the course of treatment.
DASS-21
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21)
The DASS-21 is a psychological assessment tool that measures an individual's levels of depression, anxiety, and stress. It is used to assess these conditions in adults and is often used in clinical and research settings to track changes in symptoms.
WCQ
Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ)
The WCQ is a self-report tool that identifies the main coping strategies a person uses when faced with stressful situations. It assesses different dimensions of coping, such as problem-focused strategies, emotion-focused strategies, seeking social support, confrontive coping and avoidance behaviors. This tool is used to better understand the psychological mechanisms the individual draws on, in order to guide psychotherapeutic treatment more effectively.
PSS
Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) is a psychological tool that assesses the level of stress perceived by an individual over the past month. It is used to detect how life situations are appraised as stressful, which can help with stress management and with monitoring therapeutic interventions.
DASS-42
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (42-item version) (DASS-42)
The DASS-42 is a psychometric self-report instrument for assessing depression, anxiety and stress in adults. It comprises three distinct subscales, each composed of 14 items, allowing a detailed and separate assessment of these three dimensions of psychological distress.
PSM-25
Psychological Stress Measure (PSM-25)
The PSM-25 (Psychological Stress Measure) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure the overall level of stress experienced by an individual over the past week. It provides a quantitative measure of perceived psychological stress in adults in the general population or in clinical settings.
Brief COPE
Brief COPE (Brief COPE)
The Brief COPE is a self-report questionnaire measuring the different coping strategies used in response to stress. It quickly identifies the coping mechanisms an individual favors in stressful situations, distinguishing between active and passive coping strategies.
TICS
Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress (TICS)
The TICS (Trier Inventory for Chronic Stress) is a self-report questionnaire used to measure various aspects of chronic stress over the past three months. It covers several domains such as work demands, overload, lack of recognition and chronic worrying. This tool is commonly used in research and clinical practice to assess prolonged exposure to stress as well as the risks to mental and physical health.
CST
Cungi Stress Test (CST)
The Cungi stress assessment test is a tool designed to measure individuals' stress levels. It measures the intensity of overall stress and identifies stressors such as work, relationships, or health.
Frequently asked questions
Stress or anxiety: what's the difference?
Stress responds to an identifiable external demand; anxiety is an apprehensive anticipation, sometimes without a specific object. In practice, the two often overlap.
Which stress scale should I choose?
It depends on your goal: overall perceived stress, work-related stress or life events. Each questionnaire listed here shows its description, number of items and administration time.
Can stress be measured objectively?
Scales measure perceived stress, that is, the patient's subjective experience, which remains the best predictor of its clinical impact.
Stress in clinical practice
Stress is the body's response to a demand perceived as exceeding its resources. Unlike anxiety, it is often tied to an identifiable context (work, life events, overload).
Self-report scales quantify perceived stress and how it changes. Chronic stress is a risk factor for many physical and mental disorders, which is why it is worth screening for in session.
- Stress is not a DSM-5 diagnosis in itself, but a cross-cutting factor involved in anxiety, depression and burnout.
- Acute stress, a one-off and adaptive response, differs from chronic stress, which is harmful in the long run.
- A numerical score helps identify at-risk situations and track the effect of interventions.