Faculty Articles

Psychometric Properties of the Posttraumatic Stress Checklist among Young African-American Men and Women

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-2011

Publication Title

Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

Volume

3

Issue/Number

1

First Page

77

ISSN

1942-9681

Last Page

83

Abstract/Excerpt

Research has demonstrated the validity and reliability of the Posttraumatic Stress Checklist (PCL) in predominantly Caucasian samples. However, there has not been a study that examined the psychometric properties of the PCL specifically for African Americans. The present paper is an examination of the factor structure, internal stability, reliability, and predictive validity of the PCL among a sample of young African American men and women. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated better support for a two-factor model than for a three-factor model reflecting the three diagnostic symptom clusters of posttraumatic stress disorder. High internal consistency and marginal test–retest reliability were observed. The positive predictive power of the PCL in the present study was far lower than that observed in previous studies; several potential explanations for this finding are discussed.

DOI

10.1037/a0020590

Peer Reviewed

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