title: Development of the combat distress scale of the Combat Experiences Questionnaire (CEQ).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Military combat exposure can be perceived as a great threat to the integrity of soldiers. However, no available assessment tools evaluate the degree of emotional distress that results from the exposure to various combat scenarios. This paper presents the second independent section of the Combat Exposure Questionnaire, the Combat Distress Scale (CEQ B). This questionnaire assesses Veterans׳ subjective emotional distress that is due to objective and typical military combat scenarios during war.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 708 Portuguese Overseas War Veterans participated. The scale structure of the CEQ B was analyzed with a Rasch Model, and the internal consistency and convergent validity of the scale were studied. The temporal reliability was calculated in a subgroup of 112 participants. Two samples of war Veterans with and without war-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (N=40 and N=47, respectively) were used to explore the scale׳s discriminant validity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, the CEQ B showed an acceptable fit to the data, excellent internal consistency, high temporal stability, adequate convergent validity and suitable discriminant validity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study used a population of male war Veterans that did not equally represent genders or the full adult age span, which may hinder the generalization of the results.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings indicated that the CEQ B is valid, reliable and supported by convergent and discriminant data. This lends confidence in the use of the measure as an assessment of the subjective emotional distress resulting from exposure to military combat scenarios in clinical and research settings.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Superior Miguel Torga, Coimbra, Portugal; Cognitive-Behavioral Research Centre (CINEICC), University of Coimbra, Portugal. Electronic address: teresacarvalho.psi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Instituto Superior Miguel Torga, Coimbra, Portugal; Cognitive-Behavioral Research Centre (CINEICC), University of Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.affiliation: Cognitive-Behavioral Research Centre (CINEICC), University of Coimbra, Portugal.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pinto-Gouveia
authors.affiliation: Cognitive-Behavioral Research Centre (CINEICC), University of Coimbra, Portugal; Division of Psychology, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Azores, Azores, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: da Motta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003130:Combat Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D011174:Portugal; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: CEQ; Exposure to Combat Distress Scale (CEQ B); Military combat; Portuguese Overseas War Veterans; Psychometric properties