Dw. King et al., CONFIRMATORY FACTOR-ANALYSIS OF THE CLINICIAN-ADMINISTERED PTSD SCALE- EVIDENCE FOR THE DIMENSIONALITY OF POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER, Psychological assessment, 10(2), 1998, pp. 90-96
The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS; Blake et al., 1990) is a
structured interview that assesses the 17 key symptoms of posttraumati
c stress disorder (PTSD) as established in the Diagnostic and Statisti
cal Manual of Menial Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; American Psychiatric
Association, 1994). CAPS data from 524 treatment-seeking male military
veterans were submitted to confirmatory factor analysis to test a ser
ies of nested models reflecting alternative representations of PTSD di
mensionality: (a) a 4-factor, 1st-order solution; (b) a 2-factor, high
er order solution; (c) a single-factor, higher order solution; and (d)
a single-factor, Ist-order solution. The model of best fit was the 4-
factor, Ist-order solution, containing moderately to highly correlated
yet distinct Ist-order factors corresponding to the reexperiencing, e
ffortful avoidance, emotional numbing, and hyperarousal aspects of PTS
D. Implications for theory, assessment, and future research are presen
ted in this article.