Content of the questionnaire
| Target audience | Adults |
|---|---|
| Application | The Penn State Worry Questionnaire – Past Week (PSWQ-PW) is primarily used in the outcome and trajectory measurement of pathological worry in treatments of patients with generalized anxiety disorders. |
| Composition | The 15 items of the PSWQ-PW are answered on 7-point Likert scales ranging from “0 = never” to “6 = almost always”. |
Psychometric properties
| Reliability & Validity | The psychometric properties of the PSWQ-PW have been investigated in Stöber & Bittencourt (1998). Very good values have been found. For example the internal consistency as measured by Cronbach’s Alpha was on average 0.91 across six measurement points. |
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Stöber, J. (1995). Besorgnis: Ein Vergleich dreier Inventare zur Erfassung allgemeiner Sorgen. Zeitschrift für Differentielle und Diagnostische Psychologie, 16, 50-63.
Stöber, J. & Bittencourt, J. (1998). Weekly assessment of worry: An adaptation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for monitoring changes during treatment. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 645-656.
Stöber, J. (2002). PSWQ-PW: Penn State Worry Questionnaire-Past Week. In E. Brähler, J. Schumacher & B. Strauß (Hrsg.), Diagnostische Verfahren in der Psychotherapie (S. 291-294). Göttingen: Hogrefe.
© J. Stöber & J. Bittencourt
