When Parenting Feels Overwhelming: Understanding Your Stress Level with the Parental Stress Scale (PSS)

Parenting can be one of the most meaningful roles in life and one of the most demanding. 

Between managing emotions (yours and your child’s), juggling responsibilities, and trying to “get it right,” many parents quietly carry a level of stress that feels constant and overwhelming. If you’ve ever wondered “Is this just normal parenting stress, or am I stretched too thin?” you’re not alone. The Parenting Stress Scale (PSS) offers a simple, research-backed way to pause, reflect, and better understand how parenting is impacting your well-being.

What Is the Parenting Stress Scale (PSS)?

The Parenting Stress Scale (PSS) is a free, validated, 18-item questionnaire designed specifically to measure stress related to the parenting role. Unlike some assessments that focus only on difficulties, the PSS looks at both the challenges and the rewards of parenting, capturing the full emotional experience of being a parent.

The questions explore things like:

• How overwhelmed or restricted you may feel by parenting responsibilities
• How much joy, closeness, and satisfaction you experience with your child(ren)
• The impact parenting has on your time, energy, finances, and sense of control

Parents rate how strongly they agree or disagree with each statement, and the total score reflects overall parenting stress. The scale takes about 5–10 minutes to complete and can be used by parents of children of any age.

Why Parenting Stress Matters

Research consistently shows that higher levels of parenting stress are linked to:

• Lower parental sensitivity
• Increased parent–child conflict
• More challenges with child behavior
• Strain on the overall parent–child relationship

This doesn’t mean stressed parents are doing anything “wrong.” It means stress is a real, measurable experience, and one that deserves attention and support. Understanding your stress level can be the first step toward making intentional changes that benefit both you and your child.

How the PSS Can Help You as a Parent

The PSS isn’t a test you pass or fail. It’s a self-reflection tool that can help you:

• Put words and numbers to how parenting is actually feeling right now
• Notice patterns you may have normalized or minimized
• Track changes in stress over time
• Identify areas where additional support or skills could help

Many parenting programs and clinicians use the PSS as a before-and-after measure to see whether interventions are truly reducing stress and improving parents’ well-being . You can use it the same way by checking in with yourself periodically and noticing what shifts.

How TheraHive Uses the PSS

At TheraHive, we believe that supporting parents starts with understanding their lived experience. That’s why the Parenting Stress Scale is a natural fit within our work, especially in our DBT-P (Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Parents) program.

DBT-P is designed for parents navigating emotional intensity, overwhelm, burnout, and reactivity. The PSS helps:

• Establish a baseline understanding of parenting stress
• Highlight specific stressors that DBT skills can address
• Measure progress as parents learn tools for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and effective parenting strategies

By pairing insight (from tools like the PSS) with practical, skills-based support, parents don’t just learn that they’re stressed. They learn what to do about it.

Take the Parenting Stress Scale

You can take the Parenting Stress Scale below to get a clearer picture of how parenting is affecting you right now. Answer honestly. This is for you, not a judgment of your abilities as a parent.

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What Comes Next?

If your results show elevated stress, it doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means you’re human.

Parenting was never meant to be done without support. If you’re ready to move beyond awareness and start building skills that reduce stress and strengthen your relationship with your child, we invite you to explore our DBT-P parenting program. Learn how DBT-informed tools can help you respond more calmly, feel more confident, and reconnect with the parts of parenting that matter most.

You deserve support, too. Understanding your stress is a powerful first step.

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