Dimensionality and reliability of the Civilian Mississippi Scale for PTSD in a postearthquake community.
This study examines psychometric properties of the Civilian Mississippi Scale for posttraumatic stress disorder when administered in a community survey of 656 persons following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Internal consistency was lower (Cronbach's alpha = .73) than for previous analyses of civilian and combat versions of the Mississippi Scale. The analysis produced one strong factor composed of 25 items with regular wording and a second, weaker factor composed of 10 items with reversed wording. Internal consistency was higher when the 10 reversed items were removed (Cronbach's alpha = .86); the two factors were negatively correlated. Traumatic experiences and psychological distress measures explained more variance in the 25-item factor than in the 35-item scale. Further studies should focus on content analysis and performance of the reversed items.
Inkelas
M
M
RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California, USA.
Loux
L A
LA
Bourque
L B
LB
Widawski
M
M
Nguyen
L H
LH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012495:San Francisco; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology