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. 2023 Mar;30(1):110-121.
doi: 10.1037/cps0000111. Epub 2022 Sep 8.

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for DSM-5: A Systematic Review of Existing Psychometric Evidence

Shannon R Forkus  1 , Alexa M Raudales  1 , Hanan S Rafiuddin  2 , Nicole H Weiss  1 , Brett A Messman  2 , Ateka A Contractor  2
Affiliations

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist for DSM-5: A Systematic Review of Existing Psychometric Evidence

Shannon R Forkus et al. Clin Psychol (New York). 2023 Mar.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: PTSD Checklist for DSM-5; Posttraumatic stress disorder; psychometric indices; systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram of review process
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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