Convergent validity of measures of post‐traumatic stress disorder in a mixed military and civilian population

Abstract

Abstract The authors evaluated the validity of the Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) subscale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Impact of Event Scale (IES) and the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL‐90) as continuous and dichotomous measures of PTSD in a mixed military and civilian group of 70 subjects in the United Kingdom. The MMPI‐PTSD and the IES are designed specifically as measures of PTSD and the Global Symptom Index of the SCL‐90 is a general measure of neurosis. All measures produced significant positive correlations with scores from the Clinician Administered Post‐Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale (CAPS‐1) and with each other. The IES was the most useful dichotomous measure. The optimum cut‐off score for the IES producing the highest Positive Predictive Value and the lowest Apparent Total Misclassification Error Rate has been determined.