Medical College of Wisconsin
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A factor analytic comparison of five models of PTSD symptoms. J Anxiety Disord 2009 Mar;23(2):269-74

Date

10/03/2008

Pubmed ID

18829253

DOI

10.1016/j.janxdis.2008.08.001

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-58849090868 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   42 Citations

Abstract

This study examined the factor structure of PTSD symptoms in a sample of college students (n=344) reporting exposure to a range of traumatic events. The sample was randomly split and an exploratory factor analysis was conducted with half of the sample. The factor structure obtained in the exploratory analysis was evaluated against three other models using confirmatory factor analysis utilizing the second half of the sample. This series of factor analyses identified and confirmed a three-factor symptom structure consisting of intrusion/avoidance, dysphoria, and hyperarousal clusters. These results add to the body of literature which has found that PTSD includes a cluster of symptoms shared with other diagnoses (dysphoria) and a more specific factor related directly to the effects of encountering traumatic experiences.

Author List

Lancaster SL, Melka SE, Rodriguez BF

Author

Stephen E. Melka PhD Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin




MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Humans
Male
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
Surveys and Questionnaires
Young Adult