THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SCALE TO ASSESS WAR-TIME ATROCITIES - THE WAR EVENTS SCALE

The War Events Scale (WES) was developed to assist clinicians with the assessment of war zone veterans' exposure to, and participation in wa r-time atrocities distinct from combat, and their current distress fro m these events. Data concerning content validity, test-retest reliabil ity, infernal consistency, as well as correlational data with the Comb at Exposure Scale and the Mississippi Scale are presented. Results ind icate that the WES does have adequate internal consistency and test-re test reliability, and correlates moderately with the Combat Exposure a nd Mississippi Scales. Initial results suggest that the WES may be hel pful in collecting extremely sensitive information concerning the expo sure of war zone veterans to atrocities.