Psychological Assessment

Kazdin, Alan E.

doi: 10.1037/h0090374pmid: N/A

McNally, Richard J.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.531pmid: N/A

Although most studies on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) concern traumatized adults, increasing attention is being paid to the assessment and treatment of children with PTSD. In this article, the research on methods used to assess childhood PTSD is reviewed and suggestions for further investigation are provided.

Green, Bonnie L.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.538pmid: N/A

This article reviews the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other disaster-related psychopathology following natural and human-made disasters. A brief history of disaster research is provided, and instruments used in recent studies are discussed. Data from the author's research on the relationships of several of these measures to clinically assessed PTSD are provided. The importance of multimethod assessment of PTSD and related symptoms is emphasized. Other factors potentially contributing to the development and maintenance of PTSD that should be assessed (i.e., stressors, individual factors, recovery environment) are also noted.

Kulka, Richard A.; Schlenger, William E.; Fairbank, John A.; Jordan, B. Kathleen; Hough, Richard L.; Marmar, Charles R.; Weiss, Daniel S.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.547pmid: N/A

Research on the assessment and diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has rather quickly expanded from relatively small studies in clinical settings into the realm of community epidemiology, increasingly relying on population-based or “community” studies. This article highlights some of the key challenges and opportunities associated with assessing PTSD outside of treatment settings by reviewing the results of some recent efforts to develop, test, and use diagnostic measures of PTSD among samples of Vietnam veterans in the community, including in particular the recently completed National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study. Prevalence rates emanating from these different studies are compared, a comprehensive effort to account for some of the more major discrepancies is described, and a general strategy for assessing PTSD in the community—one based on comprehensive assessment of multimethod and multisource information—is suggested.

Resnick, Heidi S.; Kilpatrick, Dean G.; Lipovsky, Julie A.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.561pmid: N/A

Sound assessment procedures for the identification of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following rape are urgently needed, given the prevalence of this type of trauma and the prevalence of rape-related PTSD. Progress has been made in development of measures to assess complex histories of rape and other trauma exposure. Structured diagnostic interviews have been developed that appear to have high agreement with other measures thought to be indicators of the construct of PTSD. New findings from longitudinal assessment of PTSD following rape indicate that it may be possible to make predictions about the course of PTSD on the basis of initial symptoms and responses on self-report measures. The utility of psychophysiological indexes in assessment of rape-related PTSD is unknown at this time. Research on rape-related PTSD is in the early stages and can benefit from advances made in the study of combat-related PTSD.

Wolfe, Jessica; Charney, Dennis S.

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.573pmid: N/A

This article addresses issues related to neuropsychological assessment in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Specifically, it is proposed that neuropsychological evaluation offers valuable methods for objectively assessing complaints of cognitive dysfunction in patients with this disorder. Various psychological and organic conditions often associated with PTSD are discussed and their impact on cognitive status is reviewed. The general conditions for using neuropsychological testing with PTSD patients are outlined. The article also includes an overview of future assessment directions in this field, emphasizing the diversity of variables associated with PTSD and how they are likely to affect both clinical presentation and related test performance.

Mollica, Richard F.; Caspi-Yavin, Yael

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.581pmid: N/A

The medical and psychiatric assessment of torture survivors is a field in its infancy. Over the past 15 years investigators have shifted from the use of open-ended interviews to standardized interview schedules. Preliminary results have not elucidated the psychometric properties of these instruments. The development of valid and reliable instruments is confounded by many unique characteristics of torture survivors such as the horrific nature of the experience, the instability of memory, and the potential upset generated by the assessment. While translations of depressive and trauma related symptoms have been attempted in several languages, cultural and psychological constructs for torture-induced disease states remain elusive. The relationship between PTSD and the torture response has not been defined. Advances in the development of instruments for assessing American combat veterans can serve as a model for the torture field, only if they are adapted to the unique cultural and psychological context of torture survivors.

Garber, Judy; Walker, Lynn S.; Zeman, Janice

doi: 10.1037/1040-3590.3.4.588pmid: N/A

This study provides further evidence of the validity of the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI) and normative information about the intensity, frequency, and types of somatic complaints reported by 540 children and adolescents in a community sample. Among high school students, girls had significantly higher scores on the CSI than did boys. Factor analysis of the CSI yielded 4 factors that correspond to the first 4 categories of the DSM–III–R somatization criteria. The CSI had good concurrent validity with another self-report measure of somatic symptoms and a low but significant correlation with parents' reports of their children's somatic symptoms on the parent version of the CSI. Significant correlations of the CSI with self-report measures of anxiety, depression, and perceived competence provided evidence of its construct validity. The implications of these findings for understanding somatization disorder in children and adolescents are discussed.