Evaluation of the German Version of the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS)

Abstract

The psychometric properties of the PTSD Symptom Scale (PSS) were evaluated in a clinical sample of severely injured in-patients after a traffic accident (n = 123). The PSS contains 17 items which were derived from the DSM-III-R criteria of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The results indicate that the PSS has satisfactory reliability and validity (internal and external). The results are in correspondence with the results of Foa et al. using a sample of rape and non-sexual-assault patients.