PTSD Checklist for DSM-5

What it measures?

• The 20 symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as outlined in the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Psychological Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5).
• Re-experiencing symptoms, such as involuntary distressing dreams, memories, thoughts and feelings related to a traumatic event(s).
• Avoidance symptoms, such as efforts to avoid internal or external reminders of the traumatic event(s).
• Negative alterations in cognitions and mood, such as negative mood states, lack of positive emotions, and exaggerated negative beliefs about onself, the world, and others.
• Hyperarousal symptoms, such as hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, sleep difficulties, irritability and concentration problems.

Who is it for?

Adults aged 18 years +

Instrument Quality

• The PCL-5 has undergone extensive psychometric validation, and is one of the most widely used self-report screening measures for PTSD (for a systematic review see Bressler, Erford & Dean (2018).

Structure

• 20 items
• 5-point Likert Scale
• Respondents are asked to what extent (0 = "Not at all"; 4 = "Extremely") they have been bothered by each symptom during the past month (e.g. "Repeated, disturbing and unwanted memories of the stressful experience")

Scoring instructions

• Sum item responses for the full-scale and each subscale to derive the full-scale and subscale scores.

Score Interpretation

What higher scores mean?

• More severe PTSD symptomatology. A provisional diagnosis of PTSD may be made if scores are sufficiently elevated. The optimal cut-off score will vary according to the service and population. As a general guideline, cut-off scores of 38 (Weathers et al., 2013) and 33 (Bovin et al., 2015) have been endorsed as sufficient for a provisional PTSD diagnosis.

Instrument developers

• Weathers, F.W., Litz, B.T., Keane, T.M., Palmieri, P.A., Marx, B.P., & Schnurr, P.P. (2013). The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). Scale available from the National Center for PTSD at www.ptsd.va.gov

Refrences

Ashbaugh, A. R., Houle-Johnson, S., Herbert, C., El-Hage, W., & Brunet, A. (2016). Psychometric validation of the English and French versions of the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). PloS One, 11(10) Blevins CA, Weathers FW, Davis MT, Witte TK, Domino JL. The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5): Development and Initial Psychometric Evaluation. J Trauma Stress. 2015 Dec;28(6):489-98. doi: 10.1002/jts.22059. Epub 2015 Nov 25. PMID: 26606250. Bovin, M. J., Marx, B. P., Weathers, F. W., Gallagher, M. W., Rodriguez, P., Schnurr, P. P., & Keane, T. M. (2016). Psychometric properties of the PTSD checklist for diagnostic and statistical manual of mental Disorders–Fifth edition (PCL-5) in veterans. Psychological Assessment, 28(11), 1379 Bressler, R., Erford, B. T., & Dean, S. (2018). A Systematic Review of the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL). Journal of Counseling & Development, 96(2), 167–186. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12190 Marx, B. P., Lee, D. J., Norman, S. B., Bovin, M. J., Sloan, D. M., Weathers, F. W., Keane, T. M., & Schnurr, P. P. (2022). Reliable and clinically significant change in the clinician-administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 and PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 among male veterans. Psychological Assessment, 34(2), 197–203. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001098 Wortmann JH, Jordan AH, Weathers FW, Resick PA, Dondanville KA, Hall-Clark B, Foa EB, Young-McCaughan S, Yarvis JS, Hembree EA, Mintz J, Peterson AL, Litz BT. Psychometric analysis of the PTSD Checklist-5 (PCL-5) among treatment-seeking military service members. Psychol Assess. 2016 Nov;28(11):1392-1403. doi: 10.1037/pas0000260. Epub 2016 Jan 11. PMID: 26751087.