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The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for DSM–5: A systematic review of existing psychometric evidence.
Open accessAbstract
The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) is a widely used self-rated measure of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms. The goal of this systematic review was to synthesize research on the psychometric properties of the PCL-5 to guide clinical and research applications. We focused on reliability, validity, factor structure, optimal cutoff scores, and sensitivity to clinical change indices. A systematic review of the literature following PRISMA guidelines was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and PTSDpubs with search terms capturing selected psychometric indices of the PCL-5. The inclusion criteria were: peer-reviewed publication in English; primary focus on the PCL-5 psychometrics; empirical study; and study with adult samples. The search yielded 265 studies; 56 papers (amounting to 64 studies) met inclusion criteria and were reviewed. Findings generally indicated evidence for: acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability; construct validity; a 7-factor Hybrid Model; recommended cutoff scores between 31-33; and ability to index sensitivity to clinical change. To further advance knowledge and applications of the PCL-5, we need more research on abbreviated versions of the PCL-5, bifactor modeling as applied to the PCL-5, as well as on PCL-5 item difficulty estimates, discrimination parameters, and clinical change score estimates.
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“the PCL-5, which is a well validated self-report measure 34,51,64,65 and shows strong correspondence with clinical diagnostics34”
From AI and narrative embeddings detect PTSD following childbirth via birth stories (2024) · cites this paper as [64]
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Aldabbour, B., Abuabada, A., Lahlouh, A., Halimy, M., Elamassie, S., Sammour, A. A., Skaik, A., & Nadarajah, S. (2024) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-024-02188-5 · Cited by 87
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AI and narrative embeddings detect PTSD following childbirth via birth stories
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“Additionally, while we assessed the presence of CB-PTSD using the PCL-5, which is a well validated self-report measure 34,51,64,65 and shows strong correspondence with clinical diagnostics 34 , clinician evaluations were not performed.”
Substance P’s Impact on Chronic Pain and Psychiatric Conditions—A Narrative Review
Humes, C., Sič, A., & Knežević, N. N. (2024) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms25115905 · Cited by 36
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Metadata
- Authors
- Forkus, S. R., Raudales, A. M., Rafiuddin, H. S., Weiss, N. H., Messman, B. A., & Contractor, A. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Rhode Island (US)
- University of North Texas (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice
- Published
- 2023-03
- Volume
- 30
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 110-121
- ISSN
- 0969-5893 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-2850
- PMC
- PMC10292741
- OpenAlex
- W4295006320
- Cited by
- 262
- References
- 88
- Citations by year
- 2026: 82 · 2025: 104 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 22
- FWCI
- 41.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Clinical Psychology Science and Practice (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (K23DA039327; P20GM125507, F31DA051167)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- PCL-5, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychometric properties, reliability statistics, construct validity, factor structure, cut-off values, sensitivity to change, self-report measures, item difficulty and discrimination
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