Portuguese version of the PTSD Checklist-Military Version (PCL-M) - II: diagnostic utility

Abstract

Objective: War veterans are at high risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the development of brief self-report instruments that enable screening for PTSD in this population is crucial. The PTSD Checklist-Military Version (PCL-M) is widely used for this purpose. This study sought to explore the diagnostic utility of the Portuguese version of the PCL-M. Methods: The participants were 86 Portuguese Colonial War veterans (42 with a PTSD diagnosis and 44 without PTSD). Participants completed a self-report instrument designed to collect sociodemographic data, the PCL-M, and the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS). Results: The area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve showed excellent discriminant ability between subjects with and without PTSD (AUC = 0.94). To achieve a positive PTSD diagnosis, an optimal cutoff point of 49 for the PCL-M total score and cutoff points for each of its 17 items are recommended. Conclusions: This work is a relevant contribution for research and clinical practice in the vast population of Portuguese Colonial War veterans. Use of the PCL-M as a screening tool for PTSD symptoms will allow easier, resource-aware targeting of subjects with a potential PTSD diagnosis, adding to the improvement of public health in Portugal.

Portuguese version of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM‐5 (PCL‐5): Comparison of latent models and other psychometric analyses

“…The PCL (Weathers et al, 1993) is a useful and widely used measure to assess PTSD symptoms in clinical and research contexts, exhibiting adequate psychometric properties across its several versions and translations (e.g., Carvalho et al, 2015; Wilkins et al, 2011). The current study sought to disseminate the Portuguese version of the PCL‐5 (Weathers et al, 2013), an important contribute to researchers and clinicians worldwide (Portuguese is the 5th most spoken language in the world by the number of native speakers, Lewis, Simons, & Fennig, 2016) and to analyze the psychometric properties (latent structure, internal consistency, temporal reliability, and convergent validity) of the PCL‐5 in a sample of firefighters.…”

“…This self‐report instrument was originally developed to assess PTSD symptom severity and/or perform a screening of this disorder according to DSM‐IV/DSM‐IV‐TR diagnosis criteria (Weathers et al, 1993), and was widely used for clinical and research purposes. Although PCL for DSM‐IV/DSM‐IV‐TR (Weathers et al, 1993) presented adequate psychometric properties (e.g., Carvalho, Pinto‐Gouveia, Cunha, & Duarte, 2015; Wilkins, Lang, & Norman, 2011), it did not attain empirical consensus regarding its latent structure, possibly due the lack of clarity about the dimensionality of DSM‐IV/DSM‐IV‐TR (APA, 1994, 2000) PTSD symptoms (Carvalho et al, 2015). More recently, Weathers et al (2013) developed the PCL for the DSM‐5 (PCL‐5) but its psychometric analyses are still scarce to date.…”

Portuguese Version of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5): Comparison of Latent Models and Other Psychometric Properties in a Sample of Fire Fighters

“…The PCL (Weathers et al, 1993) is a useful and widely used measure to assess PTSD symptoms in clinical and research contexts, exhibiting adequate psychometric properties across its several versions and translations (e. g. Carvalho et al, 2015;Wilkins et al, 2011). The current study analyzed the psychometric properties (latent structure, internal consistency, temporal reliability, and convergent validity) of the Portuguese version of the PCL for the DSM-5 (PCL-5, Weathers et al, 2013) Overall, the current DSM-5 four-factor model (APA, 2013) as well as the other models tested presented an acceptable fit to the data.…”

“…Although PCL for DSM-IV/DSM-IV-TR (Weathers et al, 1993) presented adequate psychometric properties (e.g. Carvalho, Pinto-Gouveia, Cunha, & Duarte, 2015;Wilkins, Lang, & Norman, 2011), the PCL did not attain empirical consensus regarding its latent structure, possibly due the lack of clarity about the dimensionality of DSM-IV/DSM-IV-TR (APA, 1994(APA, , 2000 PTSD symptoms (Carvalho et al, 2015). More recently, Weathers et al (2013) developed the PCL for the DSM-5 (PCL-5).…”

The assessment of combat exposure, mental and physical health problems in Portuguese colonial war veterans: A scoping review.

“…Castro-Vale et al (2019), Castro-Vale, Severo, and, and Castro-Vale, Severo, Carvalho, and Mota-Cardoso (2020) was superior to 0.90. NR (Carvalho et al, 2014(Carvalho et al, , 2018Carvalho et al, 2015c; NR (Albuquerque et al, 1992) Impact of Event Scale (Horowitz et al, 1979; Portuguese translation by Albuquerque et al, 1992) Self-report measure, with 15 items, that measures two PTSD dimensions: intrusion (seven items) and avoidance (eight items). Items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = rarely; 3 = sometimes; and 5 = many times).…”