title: Impact of Event Scale: psychometric properties.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For more than 20 years, the Impact of Event Scale (IES) has been widely used as a measure of stress reactions after traumatic events.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To review studies that evaluated the IES's psychometric properties.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results indicated that the IES's two-factor structure is stable over different types of events, that it can discriminate between stress reactions at different times after the event, and that it has convergent validity with observer-diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder. The use of IES in many psychopharmacological trials and outcome studies is supportive of the measure's clinical relevance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The IES is a useful measure of stress reactions after a range of traumatic events, and it is valuable for detecting individuals who require treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Umea University, Umea, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Sundin
authors.forename: Mardi J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Horowitz
mesh_terms: D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*