Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) Test

Understand how daily stressors affect you in about 11 minutes. With 58 items, it tracks triggers and stress load over time to show progress and support care decisions.

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Questions: 5811 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

23,608 views

1,698 completions

1,490 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

5/7

Average Impact (AI)

Measures the average perceived intensity of a single daily stressor event.

Low intensity

Moderate to high intensity

0 – 2.9: Low intensity | 3 – 7: Moderate to high intensity

A score of 5 indicates that, on average, individual stressful events over the last 24 hours were experienced as moderately to highly intense.

example score

91/200

Total Score (TS)

The Sum scale measures the total cumulative daily stress burden by combining the number of stressors and their rated intensity over the last 24 hours.

Low total stress

High total stress

0 – 70: Low total stress | 71 – 200: High total stress

A score of 91 falls in the High total stress range, indicating a substantial cumulative stress load from the day’s events as perceived by the individual.

example score

30/58

Frequency (F)

Measures how many stressful events a person reports experiencing in the past 24 hours.

Low frequency

High frequency

0 – 25: Low frequency | 26 – 58: High frequency

A score of 30 falls in the High frequency range, suggesting a greater-than-usual number of daily stressors in the last 24 hours.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

People feeling daily overwhelm

41%OF USERS

They want to pinpoint which everyday situations trigger stress and how strongly they react from day to day.

Therapy and counseling clients

34%OF USERS

They use it alongside psychological support to track whether daily stress load and intensity are decreasing over time.

Students and busy professionals

25%OF USERS

They take it to understand how workload, deadlines, and routine hassles add up and affect their well-being.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Moderate workload (Mw)

Average

4.8

Normal range

3.7 — 6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Sum (S)

Average

82.5

Normal range

56.7 — 108.4

min.

max.

200

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Frequency (F)

Average

40.6

Normal range

30.4 — 50.7

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

This text lists situations and events from everyday life that are considered unpleasant or stressful. Please read each statement carefully and indicate whether the event occurred to you today. If the event did not occur, select the corresponding response option. If the event did occur, use the scale to indicate how stressful it was for you. This questionnaire is intended to assess your current susceptibility to stress. This questionnaire is best completed in the evening, before going to sleep.

- This event did not happen to you.
- This event happened to you but did not affect you at all.
- This event affected you very slightly.
- This event was somewhat burdensome for you.
- This event affected you to a moderate degree.
- This event affected you strongly.
- This event affected you very strongly.
- This event was unbearable for you.
- This event did not happen to you.
- This event happened to you, but did not affect you at all.
- This event affected you very slightly.
- This event bothered you somewhat.
- This event affected you moderately.
- This event affected you a great deal.
- This event affected you very much.
- This event was unbearable for you.
- This event did not occur.
- This event occurred but did not affect you at all.
- This event affected you only a little.
- This event was slightly stressful for you.
- This event affected you moderately.
- This event affected you strongly.
- This event affected you very strongly.
- This event was unbearable for you.

These are 3 of the 58 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) Test - Symptoms and Signs

stress level

This measure is designed to capture exposure to common, day-to-day stressors and the respondent’s subjective appraisal of their impact. The Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) asks individuals to recall events from the prior 24 hours and indicate which stressors occurred and how stressful each was perceived to be.

The questionnaire includes 58 items and typically takes about 11 minutes to complete. Results are commonly summarized as the number of reported stressors and indices reflecting overall and average perceived stressfulness, supporting brief monitoring of daily stress in clinical or research contexts.

The Daily Stress Inventory (DSI) may be used to track change over time, identify patterns or triggers in everyday stress exposure, and complement outcome monitoring when evaluating psychosocial interventions.

Author: Richard S. Lazarus, Susan Folkman

Literature: Brantley, P. J., Waggoner, C. D., Jones, G. N., & Rappaport, N. B. A daily stress inventory: Development, reliability, and validity. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 1987.