Premium
Posttraumatic stress disorder instrument wording content is associated with differences in factor structure
Author(s) -
Elhai Jon D.,
Biehn Tracey L.,
Naifeh James A.,
Christopher Frueh B.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.20628
Subject(s) - dysphoria , psychology , bayesian information criterion , clinical psychology , checklist , construct validity , psychometrics , posttraumatic stress , psychiatry , statistics , anxiety , mathematics , cognitive psychology
The authors examined posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) item wording differences on the factor structure of PTSD. Nonclinical, trauma‐exposed participants were randomly assigned to complete a PTSD measure using item wording content from the PTSD Checklist ( n = 182) or PTSD Symptom Scale ( n = 203). Compared to the 4‐factor emotional numbing PTSD model, the 4‐factor dysphoria PTSD model fit best across groups based on smaller Bayesian information criterion (BIC) values. For PTSD Checklist participants, the numbing model's BIC was 6238.54 compared to the dysphoria model's BIC of 6156.03. For the PTSD Symptom Scale, the numbing model's BIC was 6161.38 compared to the dysphoria model's BIC of 6102.87. Groups differed on variable intercepts and residual variances. Instrument and construct implications are discussed.