This present study examined the structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a large sample of Chinese adolescents exposed to a deadly earthquake. A total of 2,800 middle school students aged 12 to 18 years participated in the study 6 months after the "Wenchuan Earthquake". Results of confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a five-factor intercorrelated model composed of intrusion, avoidance, numbing, dysphoric arousal, and anxious arousal, fit data significantly better than both the four-factor numbing model King et al. (Psychological Assessment 10:90-96, 1998) and the four-factor dysphoria model Simms et al. (Journal of Abnormal Psychology 111:637-647, 2002). Further examination of the external convergent and discriminant validity revealed that except for the dysphoric arousal factor, the remaining four PTSD factors yielded significantly different correlations with external measures of anxiety vs. depression. The findings add to the limited literature on the factor structure of PTSD in youths and on the five-factor PTSD model. In addition, they provide more detail into the latent psychopathological processes of PTSD, and inform the forthcoming DSM-5.
Background: The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) is a widely used self-report questionnaire that measures general sleep quality in general populations. However, its psychometric properties have yet to be thoroughly examined in longevous persons. Objectives: This study aimed to explore the reliability, validity and factor structure of the Chinese-language version of the PSQI in community-dwelling centenarians. Methods: A total of 958 centenarians (mean age = 102.8 years; 81.8% females) recruited from 18 regions in Hainan, China, completed the PSQI scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to measure the internal consistency. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed to explore the validity and factor structure of the PSQI in this sample. Correlations between the global PSQI score and physical function, depression symptoms, self-reported health status and subjective wellbeing were used to assess divergent validity. Results: The Cronbach's a coefficient of the PSQI was 0.68, and it increased to 0.78 after two components (medication use and daytime dysfunction) were removed. The Spearman correlation coefficients of the PSQI score with each component were statistically significant (P<0.01). EFA yielded a two-factor structure model of the original PSQI-7 and a one-factor structure model of the simplified PSQI-5. The one-factor model with five components (c 2 /df =1.59, CFI=0.99, RMSEA=0.03) fit the data well and had good configural invariance across demographic characteristics (0.53< D c 2 <5.58, P>0.05). Conclusions: The original PSQI showed acceptable applicability in Chinese communitydwelling centenarians, and its psychometric characteristics moderately improved after
Background: This study investigated an alternative five-factor diagnostic model for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and tested external convergent and discriminant validity of the model in a young Chinese sample of earthquake survivors. Methods: A total of 938 participants (456 women, 482 men) aged 15-20 years were recruited from a vocational school originally located in Beichuan County Town which was almost completely destroyed by the ''Wenchuan Earthquake.'' The participants were administrated with the PTSD Checklist and the Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25 12 months after the earthquake. Results: The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the five-factor intercorrelated model (intrusion, avoidance, numbing, dysphoric arousal, and anxious arousal) fit the data significantly better than the four-factor numbing model proposed by King et al. (1998: Psychol Assess 10:90-96)
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