The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for DSM–5: A systematic review of existing psychometric evidence.

Abstract

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM–5; PCL–5) is a widely used self-rated measure of DSM–5 PTSD symptoms. The goal of this systematic review was to synthesize research on the psychometric properties of the PCL–5 to guide clinical and research applications. We focused on reliability, validity, factor structure, optimal cutoff scores, and sensitivity to clinical change indices. A systematic review of the literature following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and PTSDpubs with search terms capturing selected psychometric indices of the PCL–5. The inclusion criteria were: peer-reviewed publication in English; primary focus on the PCL–5 psychometrics; empirical study; and study with adult samples. The search yielded 265 studies; 56 articles (amounting to 64 studies) met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Findings generally indicated evidence for: acceptable internal consistency and test–retest reliability; construct validity; a seven-factor Hybrid Model; recommended cutoff scores between 31 and 33; and ability to index sensitivity to clinical change. To further advance knowledge and applications of the PCL–5, we need more research on abbreviated versions of the PCL–5, bi-factor modeling as applied to the PCL–5, as well as on PCL–5 item difficulty estimates, discrimination parameters, and clinical change score estimates.

Positive affect processes and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms: Findings from an open label and uncontrolled pilot study using the positive memory processing technique.

“…In Sessions 2–5, participants rated their symptom severity “since the first session of this study.” For supplemental analyses, we used the PCL-5 subscale scores: intrusions (Items 1–5), avoidance (Items 6–7), negative alterations in cognitions and mood (NACM; Items 8–14), and alterations in arousal and reactivity (AAR; Items 15–20). The PCL-5 has good psychometric properties (Forkus et al, 2022); Cronbach’s alpha in the current study ranged from .86 to .93 across sessions. The primary outcome variable in the current study was PTSD symptom severity.…”

Daily reciprocal relations between emotion dysregulation and non‐suicidal self‐injury among individuals with a history of sexual assault: The influence of posttraumatic stress symptoms

“…There was a compliance rate of 72.8% (SD = 31.3%) for participants completing daily surveys. Nearly half of the sample ( n = 42; 51.9%) met criteria for probable posttraumatic stress disorder using a cutoff total score of 33 on the PCL‐5 (Forkus, Raudales, et al, 2022). The average number of traumatic experiences experienced by the sample was 9.97 (SD = 4.48).…”

The Role of Emotion Dysregulation in the Relationship Between Sleep Disturbances and PTSD Symptom Severity

“…, item 2 [“repeated, disturbing dreams of the stressful experience?”] and item 20 [“trouble falling or staying asleep?”]) were removed from the PCL-5 total score to reduce the potential of multicollinearity effects (Taylor et al, 2020). The PCL-5 demonstrates excellent psychometric properties (Forkus et al, 2022). Cronbach's α for the PCL-5 total score was 0.95 in this study.…”