The PTSD Checklist—Civilian Version: Reliability, Validity, and Factor Structure in a Nonclinical Sample
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Objectives We examined the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the posttraumatic stress diorder (PTSD) Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C; Blanchard, Jones-Alexander, Buckley, & Forneris, 1996) among unselected undergraduate students. Participants Participants were 471 undergraduate students at a large university in the Eastern United States and were not preselected based on trauma history or symptom severity. Results The PCL-C demonstrated good internal consistency and retest reliability. Compared with alternative measures of PTSD, the PCL-C showed favorable patterns of convergent and discriminant validity. In contrast to previous research using samples with known trauma exposure, we found support for both 1-factor and 2-factor models of PTSD symptoms. Conclusions Overall, the PCL-C appears to be a valid and reliable measure of PTSD symptoms, even among nonclinical samples, and is superior to some alternative measures of PTSD. The factor structure among nonclinical samples may not reflect each of the PTSD symptom "clusters" (i.e., reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and hyperarousal).
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The HSCL-25 and HTQ have been used internationally with sexual-violence survivors and have solid psychometric properties with conflict-affected samples.
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- Authors
- Conybeare, D., Behar, E., Solomon, A., Newman, M. G., & Borkovec, T. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Illinois Chicago (US)
- Williams College (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Conybeare, Daniel
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2012-04-19
- Volume
- 68
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 699-713
- ISSN
- 0021-9762 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-4679
- OpenAlex
- W1544932120
- Cited by
- 317
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 24 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 14.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- papers.ssrn.com
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- SSRN Electronic Journal (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (1f31mh068167-01)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH058593, R01 MH58593, R01 MH58593 TO, 1F31 MH068167-01)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version, post-traumatic stress disorder, factor structure, convergent validity, discriminant validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, non-clinical sample, undergraduate students, re-experiencing, avoidance and numbing, hyperarousal, PTSD symptom clusters
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Reproducibility of Results, Young Adult, Checklist
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