title: Screening for PTSD in a substance abuse sample: psychometric properties of a modified version of the PTSD Symptom Scale Self-Report. Posttraumatic stress disorder.
abstract: The high rate of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among substance use disorder (SUD) patients has been documented in research protocols, but there is evidence that it is markedly under-diagnosed in clinical settings. To address the need for a brief self-report measure to identify SUD patients who may benefit from further assessment and/or treatment for PTSD, the psychometric properties of a modified version of the PTSD Symptom Scale Self-Report (PSS-SR) were examined in a treatment-seeking SUD sample (N = 118). The modified version of the PSS-SR, which measures both frequency and severity of PTSD symptoms, demonstrated good internal consistency reliability and was correlated with other self-report measures of trauma-related symptomatology. Comparisons between a structured PTSD diagnostic interview and the modified PSS-SR indicated that 89% of the PTSD positive patients were correctly classified by the modified PSS-SR. The clinical relevance of these findings was discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA.
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Coffey
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Dansky
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Falsetti
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Saladin
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Brady
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological / Q000592:standards; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*