PANAS: Positive and Negative Affect Schedule

The PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) is a 20-item self-report measure of mood and affect: ten items measure Positive Affect (PA) and ten measure Negative Affect (NA), each scored 10–50 ^[1].

What does the PANAS measure?

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was developed by David Watson, Lee Anna Clark, and Auke Tellegen to measure two dominant dimensions of mood: Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA). These two dimensions are relatively independent (not opposite ends of one scale), and the two scales are largely uncorrelated ^[1].

• High PA indicates high energy, engagement, and positive mood. Low PA is characteristic of depression rather than anxiety ^[4].
• High NA indicates distress, nervousness, and negative mood; this general distress is shared by anxiety and depression ^[4].

For depression and anxiety symptoms themselves, use the PHQ-9 or GAD-7; for overall life satisfaction, the SWLS. Check the copyright holder's terms before clinical or commercial use of the PANAS.

How do you give the PANAS?

The 20 items are common mood descriptors, 10 reflecting positive affect (e.g., excited, enthusiastic, attentive) and 10 reflecting negative affect (e.g., distressed, upset, nervous).

Each is rated on a 5-point scale (1 = Very slightly or not at all, 5 = Extremely) based on the respondent's current state or a specified time frame (today, past week, in general). It is self-report; no clinician administration or scoring is required.

Rate each word based on how you feel right now or select your preferred time frame below.

Educational reference only. Cannot diagnose or replace clinical evaluation.

How do you score and interpret the PANAS?

PA and NA subscale scores are each summed across their 10 items (range 10–50). The two subscales are interpreted separately; they are not combined into a single total, and no fixed severity cutoffs have been established in the literature.

Score reference

The original paper presented normative data ^[1]. For the "in general" instruction, the PA mean is about 35 and the NA mean about 18.

Positive Affect (PA)

Items: interested, excited, strong, enthusiastic, proud, alert, inspired, determined, attentive, active

Negative Affect (NA)

Items: distressed, upset, guilty, scared, hostile, irritable, ashamed, nervous, jittery, afraid

Psychometric properties

• Original development. The two 10-item scales were highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month period, with factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity ^[1].
• Substance users. In 416 outpatient substance users, Cronbach's alpha was 0.90 for Positive Affect and 0.91 for Negative Affect, with acceptable baseline-to-week-1 test-retest reliability (PA 0.80, NA 0.76) ^[3].
• Emotional disorders. In 595 Spanish adults with depressive, anxiety, or adjustment disorders, the online version kept its two-factor structure, with good internal consistency and sensitivity to change ^[2].

Limitations

• Not diagnostic. The PANAS measures affect dimensions that relate to, but are distinct from, diagnostic categories.
• No clinical cutoffs. Scores are compared against normative means, not validated severity bands.
• Time frame matters. Norms differ by instruction (right now, past week, in general), so scores are only comparable when the same time frame is used.
• Self-report. Ratings reflect the respondent's own perception of their mood.