THE ASSESSMENT OF POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER WITH AN AUSTRALIAN VIETNAM VETERAN POPULATION - PRELIMINARY FINDINGS WITH 2 NEW INSTRUMENTS

Preliminary data are provided on two new instruments in the field of t raumatic stress, namely the Penn Inventory and the post-traumatic stre ss disorder (PTSD) module of the Composite International Diagnostic In terview (CIDI). The Penn Inventory is a 26-item self-report scale deve loped for use with a range of trauma populations. The CIDI-PTSD is a d raft module currently being trialed and eventually to be included in t he full version of the CIDI interview. Participants comprised 30 Austr alian Vietnam combat veterans, who also completed the Impact of Event Scale and the Mississippi Scale for PTSD (M-PTSD). The Penn Inventory demonstrated good congruent validity and was comparable to the M-PTSD in diagnostic accuracy. Both scales tended to overdiagnose. The CIDI-P TSD performed disappointingly, showing relatively low sensitivity and specificity. Implications for the appropriate use of these instruments are discussed.