The development of a clinician‐administered PTSD scale

TLDR

Several interviews are available for assessing PTSD, but they vary in merit when compared on stringent psychometric and utility standards. The CAPS‑1 is a structured interview that assesses core and associated PTSD symptoms, rating frequency and intensity with behaviorally anchored scales, yielding continuous and dichotomous scores, and can be administered by experienced clinicians or trained paraprofessionals. Data from a large psychometric study show that the CAPS‑1 reliably and validly assesses PTSD, satisfying stringent standards more uniformly than other interviews.

Abstract

Abstract Several interviews are available for assessing PTSD. These interviews vary in merit when compared on stringent psychometric and utility standards. Of all the interviews, the Clinician‐Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS‐1) appears to satisfy these standards most uniformly. The CAPS‐1 is a structured interview for assessing core and associated symptoms of PTSD. It assesses the frequency and intensity of each symptom using standard prompt questions and explicit, behaviorally‐anchored rating scales. The CAPS‐1 yields both continuous and dichotomous scores for current and lifetime PTSD symptoms. Intended for use by experienced clinicians, it also can be administered by appropriately trained paraprofessionals. Data from a large scale psychometric study of the CAPS‐1 have provided impressive evidence of its reliability and validity as a PTSD interview.