Student stress and life satisfaction questionnaire template

Student mental health is an increasingly common thesis topic in psychology, education and business. The four scales in this template are short, widely used and have published originals, so the questionnaire stays compact yet standard.

Research model

Suggested model, to be justified from your literature review: perceived stress lowers life satisfaction, while self-esteem and belief in one's own capability raise life satisfaction.

• Perceived Stress → Satisfaction With Life (negative)
• Self-Esteem → Satisfaction With Life (positive)
• General Self-Efficacy → Satisfaction With Life (positive)

Questionnaire items

Original English wording. Answered on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = Strongly disagree … 5 = Strongly agree) unless the scale page says otherwise; (R) marks a reverse-coded item.

Perceived Stress (PSS) · Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10)

Code	Item
PSS1	In the last month, how often have you been upset because of something that happened unexpectedly?
PSS2	In the last month, how often have you felt that you were unable to control the important things in your life?
PSS3	In the last month, how often have you felt nervous and "stressed"?
PSS4 (R)	In the last month, how often have you felt confident about your ability to handle your personal problems?
PSS5 (R)	In the last month, how often have you felt that things were going your way?
PSS6	In the last month, how often have you found that you could not cope with all the things that you had to do?
PSS7 (R)	In the last month, how often have you been able to control irritations in your life?
PSS8 (R)	In the last month, how often have you felt that you were on top of things?
PSS9	In the last month, how often have you been angered because of things that were outside of your control?
PSS10	In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?

Source: Cohen, Kamarck & Mermelstein (1983). See Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10).

Self-Esteem (RSE) · Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Code	Item
RSE1	On the whole, I am satisfied with myself.
RSE2 (R)	At times, I think I am no good at all.
RSE3	I feel that I have a number of good qualities.
RSE4	I am able to do things as well as most other people.
RSE5 (R)	I feel I do not have much to be proud of.
RSE6 (R)	I certainly feel useless at times.
RSE7	I feel that I'm a person of worth, at least on an equal plane with others.
RSE8 (R)	I wish I could have more respect for myself.
RSE9 (R)	All in all, I am inclined to feel that I am a failure.
RSE10	I take a positive attitude toward myself.

Source: Rosenberg (1965). See Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale.

General Self-Efficacy (GSE) · General Self-Efficacy Scale

Code	Item
GSE1	I can always manage to solve difficult problems if I try hard enough.
GSE2	If someone opposes me, I can find the means and ways to get what I want.
GSE3	It is easy for me to stick to my aims and accomplish my goals.
GSE4	I am confident that I could deal efficiently with unexpected events.
GSE5	Thanks to my resourcefulness, I know how to handle unforeseen situations.
GSE6	I can solve most problems if I invest the necessary effort.
GSE7	I can remain calm when facing difficulties because I can rely on my coping abilities.
GSE8	When I am confronted with a problem, I can usually find several solutions.
GSE9	If I am in trouble, I can usually think of a solution.
GSE10	I can usually handle whatever comes my way.

Source: Schwarzer & Jerusalem (1995). See General Self-Efficacy Scale.

Satisfaction With Life (SWLS) · Satisfaction With Life Scale

Code	Item
SWLS1	In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
SWLS2	The conditions of my life are excellent.
SWLS3	I am satisfied with my life.
SWLS4	So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
SWLS5	If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.

Source: Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin (1985). See Satisfaction With Life Scale.

Tips

• Each scale has its own response format: PSS-10 asks about frequency from 0 to 4, Rosenberg uses 4 levels from 0 to 3, and GSE uses 4 levels of how true a statement is. Keep the original formats and do not force everything into a 5-point Likert scale.
• SWLS has score interpretation bands (for example 20 = neutral) based on the 7-point scale of Diener et al. (1985). If you want to use these bands, keep the 7-point scale (choose to keep the original scale in the Survey Kit) rather than a 5-point Likert scale.
• PSS-10 and Rosenberg contain reverse-keyed items, and each scale reverses over its own score range: PSS-10 uses 4 minus the score, Rosenberg uses 3 minus the score. Reverse them before computing totals or running Cronbach's alpha.
• The editors found no published Vietnamese validation study with a DOI for Rosenberg and GSE among students; report reliability and factor analysis on your own sample in detail.
• A mental health topic must follow your university's research ethics rules, and you should list a psychological support contact at the end of the questionnaire.

Work out the minimum sample size for this model; once the data are in, clean the responses and run the survey data analysis for your results chapter.

Studies that used this model

• Pham-Ngoc, Nguyen, Nguyen-Thi, Nguyen, Vo, Do, Ho and Tran-Chi (2026). Psychological and religious predictors of help seeking attitudes among university students under perceived stress. Scientific Reports, 16, 6398. Sample: 416 university students; PSS-10; PLS-SEM. Reliability: PSS-10: α 0.69; CR 0.77; AVE 0.30 (Tables 2-3), below the commonly used thresholds.
• Trinh, Nguyen, Nguyen, Ngo, Nguyen, Nguyen, Mac and Nguyen (2025). Impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences on Mental Health and Satisfaction With Life in First-Year College Students: Results From a Cross-Sectional Study in Vietnam. Psychiatry Investigation, 22(8), 939–948. Sample: 1,391 first-year students. Reliability: SWLS: α 0.81 (Methods section).
• Dao-Tran, Anderson and Seib (2017). The Vietnamese version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10): Translation equivalence and psychometric properties among older women. BMC Psychiatry, 17, 53. Sample: 473 women aged 60 and over; validation of the Vietnamese PSS-10. Reliability: α 0.80; one-month stability 0.43 (abstract).
• Arrindell, Checa, Espejo, Chen, Carrozzino, Vu-Bich, Dambach and Vagos (2022). Measurement Invariance and Construct Validity of the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) in Community Volunteers in Vietnam. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3460. Sample: 1,073 community volunteers in Ho Chi Minh City; SWLS validation. Reliability: omega 0.756 (section 3.2).

Collecting responses

If your own network cannot reach the target respondents, you can pay for verified responses through Genius Data (referral link, we may earn a commission), paying only for approved responses.