The Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI): Development and validation.

TLDR

The study aimed to develop and validate the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI), a new measure of trauma‑related thoughts and beliefs derived from clinical observations and existing theories of post‑trauma psychopathology. The PTCI was administered to 601 volunteers, including 392 trauma‑exposed individuals and 170 with moderate to severe PTSD, and its factor structure was examined via principal‑components analysis. Three factors—Negative Cognitions About Self, About the World, and Self‑Blame—exhibited excellent internal consistency, good test‑retest reliability, strong correlations with PTSD, depression, and anxiety, and superior discrimination between traumatized individuals with and without PTSD compared to existing measures.

Abstract

This article describes the development and validation of a new measure of trauma-related thoughts and beliefs, the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI), whose items were derived from clinical observations and current theories of post-trauma psychopathology. The PTCI was administered to 601 volunteers, 392 of whom had experienced a traumatic event and 170 of whom had moderate to severe posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Principal-components analysis yielded 3 factors: Negative Cognitions About Self. Negative Cognitions About the World, and Self-Blame. The 3 factors showed excellent internal consistency and good test-retest reliability; correlated moderately to strongly with measures of PTSD severity, depression, and general anxiety: and discriminated well between traumatized individuals with and without PTSD. The PTCI compared favorably with other measures of trauma-related cognitions, especially in its superior ability to discriminate between traumatized individuals with and without PTSD.