Low voltages in two stress modes and at three temperatures were applied to two kinds of p-channel metal-oxidesemiconductor field-effect transistors (pMOSFETs) to investigate the substrate current variations and hot-carrier (HC)induced degradation. Contrary to conventional concepts, this investigation reveals that the worst conditions for pMOSFET HC reliability involve channel HC (CHC) mode and high temperatures. The severity of degradation of pMOSFETs has become comparable to their n-channel MOSFET (nMOSFET) counterparts. A probable damage mechanism is suggested to involve the generation of interface states owing to the integration of HCs and the negative-biased temperature effect (NBTI). A new empirical lifetime model is proposed in terms of applied voltages and temperatures.