ImplicitifyAI
Clinical instrument

Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ)

A 16-item measure of the trait disposition to worry: the tendency toward excessive, generalized, and difficult-to-control worry. Higher totals reflect a stronger, more pervasive worry style.

This is a clinical instrument. It is not publicly self-administered; a clinician assigns it through a secure patient link.

You learn how intense and persistent your worrying is.

For anyone whose worries feel hard to switch off.

It comes from anxiety research on persistent, uncontrollable worry.

Example score on the scale rangeChart drawn with invented example scores; not a real result.Example dataLower rangeMiddle rangeHigher rangeTrait Worry
Sample result, example data. Illustrative chart with invented scores; it does not describe any real respondent.
Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) box

What this test is

Welcome. A 16-item measure of the trait disposition to worry: the tendency toward excessive, generalized, and difficult-to-control worry. Higher totals reflect a stronger, more pervasive worry style.

The measure

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) was developed by Meyer and colleagues (1990). It has 16 items, each answered on a 5-point (Not at all typical of me … Very typical of me) scale.

Meyer, T. J., Miller, M. L., Metzger, R. L., & Borkovec, T. D. (1990). Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28(6), 487–495.

At a glance

Items
16
Response scale
5-point (Not at all typical of me … Very typical of me)
Est. time
~2 min
Access
Assigned only · no per-report charge

What it measures

Sixteen statements describe worry as a habit: worries that overwhelm, that are hard to stop once started, that are always present, and that come whenever there is something to be done. Some statements are worded the other way, such as not tending to worry about things or finding it easy to dismiss worrisome thoughts. The questionnaire concerns the tendency to worry, not the content of particular worries.

Borkovec, Robinson, Pruzinsky and DePree (1983) began the systematic study of worry as a chain of negative, relatively uncontrollable thoughts about possible future events. Meyer, Miller, Metzger and Borkovec (1990) developed the questionnaire to measure the trait disposition to worry, at a time when excessive, uncontrollable worry was becoming central to the definition of generalized anxiety disorder.

The ratings are summed, with reversed items rescored, into one total. Higher totals describe worry that is more frequent, more intense and harder to control; lower totals describe a lighter tendency to worry. The score describes a stable disposition and is less sensitive to recent events than measures that ask about the past two weeks.

The questionnaire is used in research on anxiety and in therapy for generalized anxiety, where it helps track change in the habit of worry. On this site, the GAD-7 measures recent anxiety symptoms, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) measures appraised stress over the past month, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) separate anxiety, stress and low mood.

Nomological network

The Penn State Worry Questionnaire measures the general tendency to worry, and its scores converge with other worry measures and are highest in people with generalized anxiety disorder (Meyer et al., 1990; Brown et al., 1992).

Among people seeking treatment for anxiety, those with generalized anxiety disorder scored above those with other anxiety disorders (Brown et al., 1992). Worry overlaps with trait anxiety but is a distinct construct, and the questionnaire relates differently to coping and problem-solving than general anxiety measures do (Davey, 1993).

Example item

“If I do not have enough time to do everything, I do not worry about it.”

Not at all typical of meA little typical of meSomewhat typical of meFairly typical of meVery typical of me

Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.

Scoring & interpretation

Your report explains each of your scale scores in plain language.

References

  1. Meyer, T. J., Miller, M. L., Metzger, R. L., & Borkovec, T. D. (1990). Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28(6), 487–495.
  2. Gillis, M. M., Haaga, D. A. F., & Ford, G. T. (1995). Normative values for the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Fear Questionnaire, Penn State Worry Questionnaire, and Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 7(4), 450–455.
  3. Behar, E., Alcaine, O., Zuellig, A. R., & Borkovec, T. D. (2003). Screening for generalized anxiety disorder using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire: A receiver operating characteristic analysis. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 34(1), 25–43.
  4. Brown, T. A., Antony, M. M., & Barlow, D. H. (1992). Psychometric properties of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire in a clinical anxiety disorders sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 30(1), 33–37.
  5. Davey, G. C. L. (1993). A comparison of three worry questionnaires. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 31(1), 51–56.

Sample report preview

The report shows your total score and where it falls across the range of possible scores, followed by a plain-language explanation of what scores in that region describe. Where the instrument has published interpretive bands, the report names the band and what it means. It closes with notes on how to read the result and on when a conversation with a qualified professional may be useful.

Report contents
SectionWhat it shows
ScoreYour scale score, computed with the published scoring key.
ComparisonsHow your scores compare with a published comparison group.

How would you like to use it?

For researchers

Sign up as an Implicitify researcher to use the full suite of measures in your studies, or pay for each test you give. Research pricing is still being set, so we will confirm it with you when you get in touch.

Become a researcher

For clinicians

Open a clinician account to send this measure to your clients or patients through a secure link and review their scored results in one place.

Create a clinician accountAlready have an account? Go to your clinician dashboard.

For educators

Use our measures in your courses to show students how psychological assessment works and to teach the principles of testing.

Request course access

Related tests

All measures

Ask Qualia