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Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children (PSWQ-C)

Use the PSWQ-C to evaluate excessive worry in children aged 8-17. It's a reliable and valuable tool for mental health professionals.

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By Joshua Napilay on Aug 2, 2025.

Fact Checked by Nate Lacson.

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Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children (PSWQ-C) Template

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The PSWQ-C is designed to be time-efficient, typically taking around 5 to 10 minutes for children and adolescents aged 8 to 17 years to complete. Its concise and straightforward format ensures that young individuals can easily provide their responses, making it a practical tool for busy clinical settings and research studies.

The PSWQ-C is a reliable and valid self-report questionnaire that aims to assess the frequency and intensity of worry-related thoughts and feelings in children and adolescents. It specifically focuses on the cognitive aspect of worry, capturing the extent to which worries are excessive, uncontrollable, and interfere with daily life.

The PSWQ-C is scored by summing the ratings for each of the 14 worry-related items. Participants rate each item on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all true for me) to 5 (very true for me). The total score indicates excessive worry, with higher scores suggesting greater worry severity.

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