title: Psychometric properties of seven self-report measures of posttraumatic stress disorder in college students with mixed civilian trauma exposure.
abstract: In this study psychometric properties of seven self-report measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were compared. The seven scales evaluated were the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS), the PTSD Checklist (PCL), the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS), the Civilian Mississippi Scale (CMS), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Penn Inventory for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (Penn), and the PK scale of the MMPI-2 (PK). Participants were 239 (79 male and 160 female) trauma-exposed undergraduates. All seven measures exhibited good test-retest reliability and internal consistency. The PDS, PCL and DTS demonstrated the best convergent validity; the IES-R, PDS, and PCL demonstrated the best discriminant validity; and the PDS, PCL, and IES-R demonstrated the best diagnostic utility. Overall, results most strongly support the use of the PDS and the PCL for the assessment of PTSD in this population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, United States.
authors.forename: Jennifer W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Adkins
authors.forename: Frank W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Weathers
authors.forename: Meghan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McDevitt-Murphy
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Daniels
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008950:MMPI / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities