title: Properties of Swedish posttraumatic stress measures after a disaster.
abstract: This study evaluated the properties of Swedish versions of self-report measures of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), with emphasis on the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). Survey data from adult survivors 1, 3, and 6 years after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami (n=1506) included the IES-R (from which the IES-6 was derived) and the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). The PTSD Checklist (PCL) was included in one survey. A structured clinical interview was performed after 6 years (n=142). Factor analyses of the IES-R and PCL indicated that a dysphoric-arousal model provided good fit invariant across assessments. Both measures were accurate in excluding PTSD while all measures provided poorer positive predictive values. The IES-R, but not the IES-6 and GHQ-12, evidenced stability across assessments. In conclusion, the Swedish IES-R and PCL are sound measures of chronic PTSD, and the findings illustrate important temporal aspects of PTSD assessment.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Disaster Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Akademiska sjukhuset ing 10, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: filip.arnberg@neuro.uu.se.
authors.forename: Filip K
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Arnberg
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Disaster Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Akademiska sjukhuset ing 10, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: po.michel@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Per-Olof
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Michel
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Disaster Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Akademiska sjukhuset ing 10, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: kerstin.bergh.johannesson@akademiska.se.
authors.forename: Kerstin Bergh
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Johannesson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004190:Disasters; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013548:Sweden; D057192:Tsunamis
keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis; Longitudinal invariance; Mental health; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Sensitivity and specificity; Stressful events