ASSESSMENT OF POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER IN WORLD-WAR-II VETERANS

Four posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) scales were compared in a co mmunity sample of 330 American former prisoners of war and combat vete rans of World War II. The Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD (M -PTSD), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Pk PTSD scal e, and the Impact of Event Scale (IES) all demonstrated moderate relat ionships with PTSD as defined by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R. Comparative validities were similar to those observed in V ietnam veteran samples. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that th e 3 scales loaded significantly on 1 factor. The impact of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) PTSD criteria cha nges was examined and found to be minimal. Implications for the use of the M-PTSD, Pk, and IES in combat-related PTSD assessment are discuss ed.