Penn State Worry Questionnaire
A measure of the tendency to worry excessively and the difficulty controlling worry.
Rate each of the following statements on a scale of 1 (not at all typical of me) to 5 (very typical of me). Please do not leave any items blank.
Based on your responses to the PSWQ
The PSWQ measures trait worrya tendency to worry that is relatively stable over time. High scores may indicate Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) but a diagnosis requires clinical assessment. If worry is significantly affecting your life, speaking with a mental health professional can help.
If Angus has asked you to complete this assessment, enter your details below to send him your results.
The Penn State Worry Questionnaire was developed by Meyer et al. (1990) and is one of the most widely used measures of pathological worry. It assesses the tendency to engage in excessive, uncontrollable worrya key feature of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).
The PSWQ specifically measures:
A score of 45 or above is often used as a cutoff suggesting clinically significant worry, though clinical judgment is always required.