Use of the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD in detecting war-related, non-combat stress symptomatology

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Mississippi Scale for Desert Storm War Zone Personnel (M‐PTSD‐DS), developed from the Mississippi Scale for Combat Related PTSD (M‐PTSD; Keane, Caddell, & Taylor, 1988), in the measurement of varying degrees of war‐related post‐traumatic stress (PTS) symptomatology of non‐combat Persian Gulf War veterans. Thirty Marines were administered the M‐PTSD‐DS after 3 months of active duty in Operation Desert Storm. The M‐PTSD‐DS scores of the Marines were related significantly to the number of PTS symptoms reported by the Marines. This scale appears to be quite effective in detecting varying degrees of war‐related stress in non‐combatants.

A longitudinal evaluation of the Mississippi scale for combat-related PTSD in detecting war-related stress symptomatology

“…As noted previously, the M-PTSD-DS scores at the initial testing were significantly and positively correlated with the number of PTSD symptoms reported by the Marines at that time (r ϭ .82, p Ͻ .0001; Sloan et al, 1995). In the current study, there was an equally strong relationship exhibited between veterans' M-PTSD-DS scores and number of PTSD symptoms reported at the 3-year follow-up assessment (r ϭ .82, p Ͻ .0001).…”

“…None were involved in direct fighting, but all were exposed to war zone stressors. Additional demographics of the sample, enumeration of war zone experiences, and procedures of initial testing are detailed in Sloan et al (1995). None of these Marines had a premorbid history of PTSD, psychiatric condition, or psychiatric hospitalization prior to ODS.…”

“…The Mississippi Scale for Combat-related PTSD (M-PTSD; Keane et al, 1988) has been found useful as a screening measure of PTSD in Vietnam combat veterans (Blake, Cook, & Keane, 1992;Kulka et al, 1991;McFall et al, 1990), and more recently, the Desert Storm version M-PTSD-DS was useful in detecting PTS in Persian Gulf War veterans (Sloan, Arsenault, Hilsenroth, & Harvill, 1995). The M-PTSD was developed to assess the domain of PTSD symptoms using the diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III; American Psychiatric Association, 1980) as a guideline.…”

Use of the Rorschach in the Assessment of War-Related Stress in Military Personnel

“…Over the last 10 years, our research group has examined the Rorschach characteristics of matched groups of deployed and nondeployed GW veterans, as well as investigated the relationship among selected Rorschach variables and commonly used self-report instruments that have shown utility in the evaluation of war-related PTS and PTSD (Sloan, Arsenault, Hilsenroth, Harvill & Handler, 1995; Sloan, Arsenault, Hilsenroth, Handler & Harvill, 1996). The findings supported existing research utilizing objective measures that indicate war experiences other than direct fighting may have distinct psychological effects on soldiers (Berk et al, 1989; Fontana et al, 1992; Klingman, 1992; Perconte et al, 1993; Sloan, Arsenault, Hilsenroth, & Harvill, 1995; Sloan, Arsenault, Hilsenroth, & Harvill, 1996; Sloan, Arsenault, & Hilsenroth, 1998; Solomon et al, 1993; Weisenberg et al, 1993; Zeidner, Klingman & Itskowitz, 1993).…”

Choosing Assessment Instruments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Screening and Outcome Research

“…(a) the original version (i.e., the M-PTSD), which includes 35 items; (b) the Miss-10 (Hyer, Davis, Boudewyns, & Woods, 1991), a brief screener with 10 items; (c) the civilian version (Lauterbach et al, 1997), composed of 39 items; and (d) the M-PTSD for Desert Storm War Zone personnel (Sloan, Arsenault, Hilsenroth, & Harvill, 1995), composed of 38 items. There is also a parallel version for spouses or partners of combat veterans that measures score concordance between combat veterans and their significant others (Taft, King, King, Leskin, & Riggs, 1999).…”