title: Convergent validity of measures of post-traumatic stress disorder in a mixed military and civilian population.
abstract: The authors evaluated the validity of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) subscale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL-90) as continuous and dichotomous measures of PTSD in a mixed military and civilian group of 70 subjects in the United Kingdom. The MMPI-PTSD and the IES are designed specifically as measures of PTSD and the Global Symptom Index of the SCL-90 is a general measure of neurosis. All measures produced significant positive correlations with scores from the Clinician Administered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale (CAPS-1) and with each other. The IES was the most useful dichotomous measure. The optimum cut-off score for the IES producing the highest Positive Predictive Value and the lowest Apparent Total Misclassification Error Rate has been determined.
authors.affiliation: Department of Military Psychiatry, RAF Hospital Wroughton, Swindon, Wiltshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Busuttil
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rollins
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Herepath
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Strike
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Turnbull
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008950:MMPI / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards; D011594:Psychometrics; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D006113:United Kingdom