Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is described in DSM-III-R (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) as a disorder where, following an event outside the range of usual human experiences, a person re-experiences the traumatic event (for example, intrusive thoughts, nightmares, or flashbacks) and has symptoms of emotional numbing/avoidance (for example, avoidance of reminders of the trauma or diminished interest in activities) and increased physiological arousal (for example, sleep difficulty or hypervigilance). The SCL-90-R is a 90-item self-report symptom inventory designed to assess current psychological symptom patterns. Each item is a description of a psychological symptom and is rated by respondents on a 5-point scale as having caused no discomfort. Based on responses to the SCL-90-R, a PTSD scale was derived to use as an experimental screening measure for CR-PTSD. The IES is a 15-item self-report inventory designed to measure the extent to which a given stressful life event produces subjective distress. In structured interviews, the Incident Report Interview was used to identify incidents of criminal victimization. Both the SCL-90-R and the IES improved prediction of CR-PTSD above base rates and to perform in a similar manner. The utility of each of these scales as a screening measure is discussed. 3 tables and 26 references
Concurrent Validity of a Crime-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale for Women Within the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised
NCJ Number
136986
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 6 Issue: 3 Dated: (Fall 1991) Pages: 191-199
Date Published
1991
Length
9 pages
Annotation
A total of 266 adult women who had experienced at least one incident of victimization were administered the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), the Impact of Event Scale (IES), and a structured clinical interview to identify Crime-Related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CR-PTSD).
Abstract
Date Published: January 1, 1991