Psychometric Evaluation of the Japanese Version of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist in Community Dwellers Following the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Incident

Abstract

We investigated the psychometric properties of the Japanese version of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist–Stressor Specific Version (PCL-S) using baseline data from the Fukushima Health Management Survey. A total of 26,332 men and 33,516 women aged 16 and above participated in this study. Participants lived in the Fukushima evacuation zone in Japan and experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake and nuclear power plant (NPP) incident. The PCL-S was used to assess participants’ posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. In addition, we described participants and tested the validity of the PCL-S by administering the Kessler Six-item Screening Scale for Psychological Distress (K6) and assessing education; employment; self-rated health; sleep satisfaction; experiencing the earthquake, tsunami, and NPP incident; and bereavement as a result of the disaster. PCL-S scores exhibited a positively skewed, slightly leptokurtic distribution. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the five-factor model was a better fit than were the three- or four-factor models. The PCL-S and its subscales had high Cronbach’s alpha coefficients. The PCL-S scores had weak-to-moderate correlations with history of mental illness, bereavement, experiencing the tsunami, experiencing the NPP incident, self-rated health, and sleep satisfaction, as well as a strong correlation with psychological distress. There were significant gender and age differences in PCL-S scores. Overall, this study confirmed the psychometric properties of the PCL-S, including the score distribution, factor structure, reliability, validity, and gender and age differences. Thus, the Japanese version of the PCL-S would be a useful instrument for assessing the PTSD symptoms of community dwellers who have experienced traumatic events.

Changes in Risk Perception of the Health Effects of Radiation and Mental Health Status: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

“…The predictor variable was mental health status, which was assessed in terms of traumatic reaction. To measure this, we used the PTSD Checklist-Specific (PCL-S), the Japanese version of which has been validated [ 19 , 20 ]. The PCL-S is a 17-item self-report checklist of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, with a focus on specific traumatic experiences (which, in this study, means the Great East Japan Earthquake, and following tsunamis and the NPP accident).…”

Perception of Radiation Risk as a Predictor of Mid-Term Mental Health after a Nuclear Disaster: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

“…The PTSD Checklist Stressor-Specific Version (PCL-S) [ 32 ] was used to assess post-traumatic symptoms. The PCL-S is a 17-item self-report measure, and the Japanese version has been shown to have sufficient validity and reliability [ 33 ]. The cut-off was set as a PCL-S score of ≥44 [ 32 ].…”

Psychometric evaluation of the simplified Japanese version of the Athens Insomnia Scale: The Fukushima Health Management Survey

“…Additionally, AIS‐SJ scores would likely be related to PTSD. Sleep problems are well known to correlate with PTSD symptoms (Germain, Hall, Krakow, Katherine Shear, & Buysse, ); in fact, the DSM‐IV criteria for PTSD include symptoms of insomnia (American Psychiatric Association, ) and the scale for assessing PTSD itself contains items on disturbed sleep (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist–Stressor Specific Version [PCL‐S]; Iwasa et al, ; Weathers, Litz, Huska, & Keane, ). As such, we expected that insomnia would be related to PTSD.…”