Contrasting the Hassles Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale: Who's really measuring appraised stress?

Cohen, Sheldon

doi:10.1037/0003-066x.41.6.716

Cited by 231Psychometric Methodologies and TestingHealth and Well-being StudiesAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes

Contrasting the Hassles Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale: Who's really measuring appraised stress?

Cohen, Sheldon·1986·American Psychologist

DOI 10.1037/0003-066x.41.6.716

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Abstract

Responds to the criticism of the perceived stress scale (PSS) developed by the present author and colleagues (see record 1984-24885-001) by R. S. Lazarus et al (see record 1986-10765-001) in their defense of the hassles scale they developed. It is contended that the PSS predicts psychologic and physical symptoms and health behaviors after controlling for any redundancy with psychological symptom measures.

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BackgroundMethodResultInfluential
Common Measures for National Institute of Mental Health Funded Research
Barch, D., Gotlib, I., Bilder, R., Pine, D. S., Smoller, J., Brown, C. H., Huggins, W., Hamilton, C., Haim, A., & Farber, G. (2016) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.07.006 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Neurobehavioral impact of sickle cell disease in early childhood
Schatz, J., & Roberts, C. (2007) · Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society · doi:10.1017/s1355617707071196 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Preventing Postpartum Smoking Relapse
Levine, M. D., Cheng, Y., Marcus, M. D., Kalarchian, M. A., & Emery, R. L. (2016) · JAMA Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.0248 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Trait Hostility, Perceived Stress, and Sleep Quality in a Sample of Normal Sleepers
Taylor, N. D., Fireman, G., & Levin, R. (2013) · Sleep Disorders · doi:10.1155/2013/735812 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Perceived Stress and Performance Appraisal Discomfort: The Moderating Effects of Core Self-Evaluations and Gender
Gbadamosi, G., & Ross, C. (2012) · doi:10.1177/009102601204100404 · Cited by 40
Weight concerns affect motivation to remain abstinent from smoking postpartum
Levine, M., Marcus, M., Kalarchian, M., Weissfeld, L., & Li, Q. (2006) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15324796abm3202_12 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
“The Perceived Stress Scale is a 14-item instrument with adequate reliability that has been used in other smoking cessation studies (40).”
Method
Protocol for the Pregnancy During the COVID-19 Pandemic (PdP) Study: A Longitudinal Cohort Study of Mental Health Among Pregnant Canadians During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Developmental Outcomes in Their Children
Giesbrecht, G. F., Bagshawe, M., van Sloten, M., MacKinnon, A., Dhillon, A. K., van de Wouw, M., Vaghef‐Mehrabany, E., Rojas, L., Cattani, D., Lebel, C. A., et al. (2021) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/25407 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
“The PSS measures the degree to which participants appraise their lives as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloaded [86].”
Trait anger, anger expression, stress, and health status of American and Turkish midlife women.
Thomas, S. P., & Atakan, S. (1993) · Health Care for Women International · doi:10.1080/07399339309516035 · Cited by 38
Group antenatal intervention to reduce perinatal stress and depressive symptoms related to intergenerational conflicts: a randomized controlled trial.
Leung, S., & Lam, T.-H. (2012) · International Journal of Nursing Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.06.014 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
The Student Perception of University Support and Structure Scale:development and validation
Wintre, M. G., Gates, S. K. E., Pancer, W. M., Pratt, M. W., Polivy, J., Birnie-Lefcovitch, S., & Adams, G. R. (2009) · Journal of Youth Studies · doi:10.1080/13676260902775085 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“Perceived Stress Scale Short Form (PSS) (Cohen 1986 )”
Background
Lifestyle Medicine in Medical Education: Maximizing Impact
Frates, B., Ortega, H., Freeman, K. J., Co, J. P. T., & Bernstein, M. (2024) · Mayo Clinic Proceedings Innovations Quality & Outcomes · doi:10.1016/j.mayocpiqo.2024.07.003 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Psychological and Biological Correlates of Fatigue After Mild-to-Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury
Bay, E., & Xie, Y. (2009) · Western Journal of Nursing Research · doi:10.1177/0193945909334856 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
The Influence of Stress and Coping on Family Caregivers' Perceptions of Health
Killeen, M. (1990) · The International Journal of Aging & Human Development · doi:10.2190/qjlr-rcd9-rtt2-fe88 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Subjective Family Socioeconomic Status and Peer Relationships: Mediating Roles of Self-Esteem and Perceived Stress
Bai, X., Jiang, L., Zhang, Q., Wu, T., Wang, S., Zeng, X., Li, Y., Zhang, L., Li, J., Zhao, Y., et al. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.634976 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
“In some research, assessments of perceived stress has been considered more reliable than assessments of stressful life events (47).”
Background
Individual and family adaptation in Taiwanese families of individuals with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI)
Hsiao, C., & Riper, M. L. V. (2009) · Research in Nursing & Health · doi:10.1002/nur.20322 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Validation of Bengali perceived stress scale among LGBT population
Mozumder, M. (2017) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1482-0 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“This appraisal based scale has been demonstrated to outperform life event based measures in assessment of stress [3].”
Program adherence and coping strategies as predictors of success in a smoking treatment program.
Kamarck, T., & Lichtenstein, E. (1988) · Health Psychology · doi:10.1037//0278-6133.7.6.557 · Cited by 31
The Effect of Inquiry-Based Stress Reduction on Teacher Burnout: A Controlled Trial
Schnaider-Levi, L., Ganz, A., Zafrani, K., Goldman, Z., Mitnik, I., Rolnik, B., & Lev-Ari, S. (2020) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci10070468 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
“This questionnaire validity was confirmed in previous studies [32].”
Result
Sources of stress among domestic and international students: a cross-sectional study of university students in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Amanvermez, Y., Karyotaki, E., Cuijpers, P. J., Čihařová, M., Bruffaerts, R., Kessler, R. C., Klein, A. M., Wiers, R. W. H. J., & de Wit, L. M. (2023) · Anxiety Stress & Coping · doi:10.1080/10615806.2023.2280701 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“We included depression and anxiety together to control for general negative a ﬀ ect, because both anxiety and depression are known for their potential interrelations with perceived stress (Cohen, 1986; de Rooij et al., 2010; Hammen, 2015).”
Background
Frailty in aging and its influence on perceived stress exposure and stress-related symptoms: evidence from the Swiss Vivre/Leben/Vivere study
Desrichard, O., Vallet, F., Agrigoroaei, S., Fagot, D., & Spini, D. (2018) · European Journal of Ageing · doi:10.1007/s10433-017-0451-2 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“We used the four items of the short version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS, Cohen 1986; Cohen et al.”
Method
Interreality for the management and training of psychological stress: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Pallavicini, F., Gaggioli, A., Raspelli, S., Cipresso, P., Serino, S., Vigna, C., Grassi, A., Morganti, L., Baruffi, M., Wiederhold, B. K., et al. (2013) · Trials · doi:10.1186/1745-6215-14-191 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Does perceived stress mediate the effect of cultural consonance on depression?
Balieiro, M. C., dos Santos, M. D., dos Santos, J. D., & Dressler, W. (2011) · Transcultural Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/1363461511418873 · Cited by 26
“Rather, it is intended to allow the individual to assess all events and circumstances meaningful to him or her, and to assess whether or not these demands exceed his or her ability to respond (Cohen, 1986).”
Background

Authors: Cohen, S.
Affiliations: Carnegie Mellon University (US)
Corresponding author: Cohen, Sheldon
ORCID: Cohen, Sheldon
Venue: American Psychologist
Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA)
Published: 1986-06
Volume: 41
Issue: 6
Pages: 716-718
ISSN: 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
1935-990X
DOI: 10.1037/0003-066x.41.6.716
OpenAlex: W2071713180
Cited by: 231
References: 0
Citations by year: 2026: 4 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 5
FWCI: 5.83
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
KiltHub Repository (submittedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Health and Well-being Studies
Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
Keywords: Perceived Stress Scale, stress measurement, psychosomatic symptoms, health behavior, psychological symptoms

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Contrasting the Hassles Scale and the Perceived Stress Scale: Who's really measuring appraised stress?

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