title: Testing the dimensionality of posttraumatic stress responses in young Chinese adult earthquake survivors: further evidence for "dysphoric arousal" as a unique PTSD construct.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study investigated an alternative five-factor diagnostic model for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and tested external convergent and discriminant validity of the model in a young Chinese sample of earthquake survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 938 participants (456 women, 482 men) aged 15-20 years were recruited from a vocational school originally located in Beichuan County Town which was almost completely destroyed by the "Wenchuan Earthquake." The participants were administrated with the PTSD Checklist and the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 12 months after the earthquake.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the five-factor intercorrelated model (intrusion, avoidance, numbing, dysphoric arousal, and anxious arousal) fit the data significantly better than the four-factor numbing model proposed by King et al. (1998: Psychol Assess 10:90-96) and the four-factor dysphoria model proposed by Simms et al. (2002: J Abnorm Psychol 111:637-647). Further analyses indicated that four out of five PTSD factors yielded significantly different correlations with external measures of anxiety versus depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings provide further empirical evidence in favor of the five-factor diagnostic model of PTSD, and carry implications for the upcoming DSM-5.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zhongquan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhanbiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Jianxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Kan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhengkui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jon D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Elhai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D004190:Disasters; D055866:Earthquakes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult