A CONFIRMATORY FACTOR-ANALYSIS OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYMPTOMS

Investigators have recently identified a two-factor structure underlyi ng posttraumatic stress symptoms through the use of exploratory factor analysis [Taylor et al. (1998) The structure of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 154-160]. These two fac tors, which were labeled as Intrusion and Avoidance, and Hyperarousal and Numbing, are consistent with current theoretical models of posttra umatic stress disorder - PTSD [e.g. Foa et al. (1992). Uncontrollabili ty and unpredictability in post-traumatic stress disorder: An animal m odel. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 218-238]. However, the authors of t he Taylor et al. study issued caution in interpreting their findings b ecause there has yet to be a systematic replication of their results. This paper presents a confirmatory factor analysis of the two-factor s tructure of posttraumatic stress symptoms in 217 survivors of serious motor vehicle accidents with varying degrees of PTSD symptoms. A hiera rchical, confirmatory-factor analysis conducted with a structural equa tion modeling statistics package confirmed that the model proposed by Taylor et al. can adequately account for the presentation of PTSD symp toms in this sample of motor vehicle accident survivors. The implicati ons for the assessment and diagnosis of PTSD are discussed. (C) 1998 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.