Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ)
Measure the intensity and controllability of worry for clinical discussion and monitoring
Reference information · Questionnaire
- Last content update
- 2026-10-26
- Clinical review
- Not independently reviewed
- Source jurisdiction
- See individual sources
- Coverage
- Questionnaire
| Field | Instrument context |
|---|---|
| Version | English adult 16-item PSWQ; wording reproduced by NIH National Cancer Institute; original 1–5 endpoint anchors |
| Population | Adults; assesses the general tendency to worry |
| Respondent | Adult self-report |
| Recall period | Typical or characteristic tendency; no fixed recall interval |
| Purpose | Measure the intensity and controllability of worry for clinical discussion and monitoring |
A total does not establish individual item responses.
Below are some statements about worrying. Please select one number (1–5) next to each statement that describes how typical that statement is for you. 1 means “Not at all typical of me” and 5 means “Very typical of me”. The intermediate source response points 2, 3 and 4 have no additional verbal anchors. Please answer every item.
Meyer TJ, Miller ML, Metzger RL, Borkovec TD (1990). Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy 28:487–495. Public-domain status confirmed by the original author, as documented in Cambridge CamCOPS.
Responses stay in this page’s memory. Reset or leave the page to clear them. No patient identifiers are collected.
Interpretation & limitations
- Reverse ratings on items 1, 3, 8, 10 and 11 using 6 minus the selected response, then sum all 16 ratings. Scores range from 16 to 80; higher scores indicate a stronger tendency to worry.
- Interpret using the selected population, clinical context and change over time. No universal diagnostic cutoff or severity bands are applied here.
- Different reproductions contain small wording differences. This form consistently uses the NCI reproduction.
- All 16 ratings are required. Missing responses are not replaced by zero.
- The PSWQ does not establish a diagnosis, prescribe treatment or establish safety.
References · 3
- NIH NCI complete 16-item wording and original endpoint anchors
- Cambridge CamCOPS documentation of direct author public-domain confirmation · Cambridge CamCOPS documents explicit confirmation from original author Thomas D. Borkovec on 23 July 2015 that PSWQ is in the public domain. The NIH National Cancer Institute publicly reproduces all 16 items. Preserve developer attribution and distinguish this selected NCI wording from other reproductions.
- SAMHSA TIP26 PSWQ scoring key: reverse1,3,8,10,11 and sum16items