A comparison of four PTSD measures' convergent validities in Vietnam veterans

Abstract

We compared the convergent validities of four commonly used post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) measures in 80 help-seeking Vietnam veterans by contrasting their intercorrelations. When scored as continuous severity or frequency measures, the Mississippi Scale for Combat-related PTSD's and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Interview's (PTSD-I's) concordances with other measures were similar to one anothers' and generally larger than those of either the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) PTSD module or the MMPI PTSD scale. However, when used only to identify stress disorder's presence or absence, the four techniques' concordances were nearly identical. This suggested that the four measures have similar convergent validities when used simply to identify PTSD, but that the PTSD-I and Mississippi scale offer better convergent validity than the MMPI or DIS instruments when used as severity measures.

The efficacies of three relaxation regimens in the treatment of PTSD in Vietnam war veterans

“…It too has also demonstrated good validity (Watson, 1990). The PTSD-I and Mississippi Scale have shown validities superior to those of two other instruments in a comparative validation (Watson et al, 1994).…”

“…It has demonstrated strong test-retest reliability (total score r ϭ .95) and concurrent validity (correlations of .79 to .94) with the Mississippi Scale for Combat-related PTSD (Keane, Malloy, & Fairbank's, 1984), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory PTSD Scale, and Robins and Helzer's (1985) Diagnostic Interview Schedule PTSD module (Watson, 1990;Watson et al, 1994).…”

Reconciling disparate prevalence rates of PTSD in large samples of US male Vietnam veterans and their controls

“…[ 72 - 74 ] The psychometric properties of the MMPI-PTSD have been studied less often and the measure has been criticized for being a non-specific measure of response to severe trauma. [ 67 , 75 ]…”

Social maladjustment indicators in PTSD patients' families of origin

“…It has shown robust test-retest reliability (total score r = .95) and concurrent validity ( (Watson, 1990; Watson et al, 1994).…”

“…correlations of .79 to .94 with Robins and Helzer's [1985] Diagnostic Interview Schedule PTSD DIS module, Keane, Caddell, and Taylor's [ 19881 Mississippi Scale for Combat-related PTSD, and Keane, Malloy, and Fairbank's [ 19841 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory PTSD Scale[Watson et al, 1994; Watson, Juba, Manifold, Kucala, & Anderson, 19911). Its concurrent validity compares well with those reported on other instruments that measure PTSD…”