The perceived stress scale (PSS): normative data and factor structure for a large-scale sample in Mexico.

One of the most widely used scales for the evaluation of stress is the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), and it has been adapted into different languages. However, few studies have presented normative data from large samples, and there do not appear to be any studies of the PSS that provide normative data based on large samples for Mexico. Thus, the goal of this study was to provide normative data regarding gender and different age groups for a sample of 1990 Mexican subjects to validate the factor structure of the construct for this sample. The analysis of the 10- and 14-item versions of the PSS revealed that the scale had adequate reliability and that the factor structure was consistent with previous studies. With respect to the normative data, the means of the different groups ranged from 20.93 to 25.63 for the PSS14 and from 14.52 to 17.73 for the PSS10. We propose that scores within one standard deviation of these means be used as reference values for each group.