16 Free Trauma Tests for Stress, PTSD and Dissociation
16 free, research-based trauma tests for stress, PTSD and dissociation. Each is reviewed by a clinician, scored in your browser, and gives you an instant plain-language result. No sign-up, and your answers never leave your device.
Reviewed by David A. Brooks, PhD, ABPP, ABN 
Trauma-related questionnaires ask different kinds of questions. The ACE Test counts certain childhood experiences, while the PTSD Test uses the PCL-5 to explore current symptoms. The complex PTSD screen is informed by the ITQ, and other tools focus on stressful life events, grief, depersonalization, or dissociation. This collection brings those routes together without assuming that every difficult experience, period of grief, or episode of daydreaming has the same explanation.
You can choose a present-focused questionnaire without revisiting childhood experiences, and you can pause whenever you need to. A result may help you describe what is happening or prepare questions for a professional. It cannot establish what caused your experiences, recover memories, or measure how much your past should affect you. These educational screens offer a starting point for reflection, with room for context that no questionnaire can fully capture.
Start here
All 16 →PTSD Test (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
The PCL-5 provides a present-symptom starting point if you want to explore the effects of a traumatic experience.
Start hereChildhood Trauma Test
Is what happened back then still shaping you today?
Start the trauma testStress Level Test
A past-month picture of perceived demands, coping strain, and everyday signs of stress.
Take the testAll trauma, stress and dissociation tests
Present symptoms
PTSD Test (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
The full validated PCL-5: 20 items, four DSM-5 symptom clusters, and a 0 to 80 severity score.
Complex PTSD Test (C-PTSD)
Informed by the validated ITQ, the standard measure of ICD-11 complex PTSD, with a PTSD vs DSO breakdown.
Adjustment Disorder Test
Based on the validated ADNM-8, measuring how you are coping with a stressful life event.
Grief Test
Informed by prolonged grief research. Helps you see whether extra support might help. Grief has no timeline.
Stress Level Test
A past-month picture of perceived demands, coping strain, and everyday signs of stress.
Caregiver Burnout Quiz
Check emotional strain, care demands, and guilt, with practical routes to respite and support.
Trauma Response Test (Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fawn)
Find your dominant and secondary trauma response across fight, flight, freeze, and fawn.
Nervous System Dysregulation Test
See your score across hyperarousal, hypoarousal, and recovery, with the contested science explained.
Hypervigilance Test
See your score across threat scanning, startle response, social monitoring, and everyday cost.
Childhood adversity
Childhood Trauma Test
Based on the validated ACE study, with an expanded adversity scale and a resilience score.
ACE Test
Explore adverse childhood experiences with an ACE score and clear limits on what the number means.
Childhood Emotional Neglect Test
Explore remembered childhood emotional support and current patterns in two separate parts.
Dissociation
Dissociative Disorder Test
Informed by the validated DES-II. A screening for dissociation, not a DID diagnosis.
Depersonalization & Derealization Test
Informed by the Cambridge Depersonalization Scale, splitting depersonalization from derealization.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) Test
Based on the DES-II research screen. Honest from the start: a screening, never a DID diagnosis.
Maladaptive Daydreaming Test
Informed by the validated MDS-16. Measures immersive daydreaming, its triggers, and its impact.
How to choose
| If you want to | Take | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You want to explore current post-traumatic symptoms | PTSD Test (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) | The PCL-5 focuses on symptoms rather than counting childhood experiences. |
| You want the original childhood adversity count | ACE Test | This version contains the 10 original ACE questions and explains the limits of the total. |
| You want a broader childhood reflection | Childhood Trauma Test | This expanded tool adds adversity and resilience questions beyond the original ACE count. |
| You want to explore complex PTSD-related patterns | Complex PTSD Test (C-PTSD) | This ITQ-informed screen separates PTSD symptoms from disturbances in self-organization. |
| You want to understand dissociative experiences | Dissociative Disorder Test | This DES-II-informed adaptation does not establish DID or explain the cause of dissociation. |
Trauma, stress and dissociation tests FAQ
What is the difference between an ACE score and a PTSD score?
An ACE score counts particular childhood experiences. A PTSD questionnaire such as the PCL-5 asks about symptoms associated with traumatic experiences. These are different questions, and the totals are not interchangeable. An adversity count does not tell you how someone feels now or predict an individual’s future.
Can a dissociation test confirm DID?
No. The dissociation questionnaires here are educational screens informed by dissociation research, including the DES-II. They cannot establish dissociative identity disorder or explain why an experience occurs. Use their questions to describe what you notice, and discuss ongoing concerns with a qualified professional rather than treating a score as confirmation.
Do I have to revisit painful memories to use this collection?
You can choose a questionnaire about current experiences, pause, or decide not to take one. There is no requirement to complete a childhood adversity screen first. A test cannot recover or verify memories, and you do not need to share difficult details here to have a valid reason for seeking support.
What if I feel overwhelmed or unsafe?
Stop the questionnaire if you need to and consider reaching out to someone you trust. If you are in immediate danger, contact local emergency services. In the US, call or text 988 for suicidal thoughts or emotional crisis. You do not have to finish a test or obtain a particular score before asking for help.
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 27). Free Trauma Tests for Stress, PTSD and Dissociation. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tests/trauma-tests
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