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International Stress Management Association United States

Stress Test

Please answer the following questions thinking about how you have been feeling during the past month using the following scale:

0 = Never 1 = Almost Never 2 = Sometimes 3 = Fairly Often 4 = Very Often

1. In the last month, how often have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?

0 1 2 3 4

2. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life?

0 1 2 3 4

3. In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and 'stressed'?

0 1 2 3 4

4. In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal matters?

0 1 2 3 4

5. In the last month, how often you felt that things were going your way?

0 1 2 3 4

6. In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope with all the things you had to do?

0 1 2 3 4

7. In the last month, how often have you been able to control irritations in your life?

0 1 2 3 4

8. In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?

0 1 2 3 4

9. In the last month, how often have you been angered because of things that were outside of your control?

0 1 2 3 4

10. In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?

0 1 2 3 4

Before adding your score up, flip the scores for the positively worded questions (questions 4, 5, 7, 8) so that a score of 4 becomes a 0, a score 3 becomes a 1, a score of 1 becomes a 3, and a score 0 becomes a 4. This way, the total score will represent your overall stress, with higher scores representing higher levels of stress.

The average person scores 16 on this test which indicates that they are experiencing a little to some stress.

If you score less than 16 then you have relatively little stress compared to the average person.

If you score between 20 and 30 you have moderate to high levels of stress.

If you score over 30 you have very high levels of stress.

If you scored over 20 it is recommended that you seek out stress management help. Please go to the stress reduction section of this website to find more information on stress reduction or click here.