Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ)

What Is the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ)?

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), developed by Meyer, Miller, Metzger and Borkovec (1990), is a widely used measure of trait worry - the tendency to worry frequently, excessively, and uncontrollably.

What Does the PSWQ Measure?

Unlike symptom-based anxiety scales, the PSWQ captures three core dimensions of worry as a stable trait:

• Frequency: How often do you find yourself worrying?
• Excessiveness: Does your worrying go beyond what the situation warrants?
• Uncontrollability: Once worry starts, can you stop it?

Psychometric Properties

• Internal consistency: alpha = 0.91-0.95
• Test-retest reliability: r = 0.74-0.93 (2-10 weeks)
• Mean PSWQ scores for GAD patients: 60-68
• Strong discriminant validity between GAD and non-clinical samples

Scoring

Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale:

• 1 = "Not at all typical of me"
• 2 = "Rarely typical of me"
• 3 = "Somewhat typical of me"
• 4 = "Often typical of me"
• 5 = "Very typical of me"

Note

The PSWQ assesses worry as a personality trait, not a clinical diagnosis. Elevated scores warrant clinical follow-up but do not alone indicate an anxiety disorder.