title: Assessing post-traumatic stress symptoms in a Latino prison population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this paper is to assess the reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the Davidson trauma scale (DTS-S) and to determine the prevalence and correlates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a non-clinical random sample of prison inmates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Probabilistic samples of 1,179 inmates from 26 penal institutions in Puerto Rico were selected using a multistage sampling design. Population estimates and correlations were obtained for PTSD, generalized anxiety and depression. The reliability, factor structure, and convergent validity of the DTS-S were assessed. Cross-validation was employed to confirm the results of the factor analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Using the cut-offs adopted by the scale's author, 136 (13.4 percent) of the inmates are likely to have current PTSD and 117 (11.6 percent) reach the cut-off for sub-threshold PTSD. Confirmatory factor analysis generated two factors explaining 53 percent of the variance. High reliabilities were obtained for the total scale (α=0.95) and for the frequency and severity scales (α=0.90 and 0.91). Significantly higher DTS-S scores were found for females (t=2.26, p<0.025), for inmates diagnosed with depression or anxiety (t=2.02, p<0.05), and those reporting suicide attempts (t=4.47, p<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings support that the DTS-S is a reliable and valid measure to assess PTSD symptoms in Latino inmate populations and to identify individuals at risk for the disorder that require confirmatory diagnosis and clinical interventions.
authors.affiliation: Professor, based at Department of Mathematics-Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Cayey, Puerto Rico.
authors.forename: José N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Caraballo
authors.forename: Coralee
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez-Pedrogo
authors.forename: Carmen E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Albizu-García
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D011330:Prisons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011647:Puerto Rico / Q000453:epidemiology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Correctional health care; Criminal Justice System; Health promotion; Mental health; Psychological health; Public health