Sources for Information on PTSD Assessment Instruments
We are often asked for advice on the selection of PTSD assessment instruments. We are unable to
provide extensive consultation on this topic, but we can offer the following list of resources, including
recommended books on PTSD assessment.
PILOTS database
There are thousands of assessment instruments that have been used in research and clinical work with
trauma survivors. (An extensive list of these may be found in the PILOTS
Database Instruments Authority List.) Our PILOTS database, an online index to the worldwide psychotrauma literature,
can be used find publications on the properties and use of individual instruments or entire classes of instruments, to identify instruments
that have been used in particular contexts, and to identify studies in which a particular instrument was used. (This website offers
general information on the PILOTS database,
specific instructions on using it to find
information about instruments, and direct access to the database.)
Several major PTSD assessment instruments have been developed by the National Center for PTSD.
Detailed information on these is available at this website, including instructions on how qualified users can obtain copies
of these instruments.
The Health and Psychosocial Instruments (HaPI) database can be used to locate published information on "measurement instruments
(i.e., questionnaires, interview schedules, checklists, index measures, coding schemes/manuals, rating scales, projective techniques,
vignettes/scenarios, tests) in the health fields, psychosocial sciences, organizational behavior, and library and information science."
It is made available to subscribers through Ovid Technologies; check with your librarian to see if your library subscribes.
BOOKS
Tests in Print and the
Mental Measurements Yearbook, both produced by the
Buros Institute of Mental Measurements and distributed by the University of Nebraska Press, provide information on commercially-available assessment
instruments. Tests in Print claims to be "a comprehensive bibliography to all known commercially available tests which are currently in print."
Typical Mental Measurements Yearbook test entries include "descriptive information, one or two professional reviews, and an extensive list
of references to pertinent literature." These publications may be found in major academic and research libraries.
American Psychiatric Association. Task Force for the Handbook of Psychiatric Measures.
Handbook of Psychiatric Measures.
Washington: American Psychiatric Association, 2000; ISBN 0-89042-415-2.
A massive guidebook to psychiatric assessment instruments. The introductory chapters consider general issues of psychometric properties and
the selection, use, and interpretation of psychiatric measures. Eleven chapters describe general measures that cut across disorders: diagnostic
interviews, measures of severity and psychiatric and general medical functioning, measures of quality of life, and other measures, such as those
used to rate adverse effects, patient satisfaction, and stress or life events and measures for practitioner and system evaluation. Sixteen chapters
cover measures related to DSM-IV diagnostic categories; those most relevant to PTSD are chapters 25 ("Anxiety Disorders Measures") and 27
("Dissociative Disorders Measures"). A list of "references and suggested readings" is provided for each instrument discussed. (The accompanying
CD-ROM includes the actual content of 2 PTSD instruments, 3 dissociative disorders instruments, and 102 other instruments, many of which are
frequently used in PTSD research and clinical practice.)
Antony, Martin M; Orsillo, Susan; Roemer, Lizabeth (ed.). Practitioner
’s Guide to Empirically Based Measures of Anxiety. New York: Kluwer
Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2001; ISBNB 0-306-46582-5 (AABT Clinical Assessment Series).
"The purpose of this book is to provide a resource that contains information on almost all of the measures that have been demonstrated to be useful
for measuring the presence and severity of anxiety and related problems." Of the more than 200 instruments covered, 24 measures for PTSD and acute
stress disorder are discussed in detail (with original citation, description, administration and scoring information, and psychometric properties) and
18 are discussed briefly. Source and contact information are given for all instruments. (The book includes the actual content of 11 PTSD/ASD
instruments.)
Briere, John. Psychological Assessment of Adult Posttraumatic States.
Washington: American Psychological Association, 1997; ISBN 1-55798-403-4.
A general introduction to assessment, with introductory chapters on etiology of posttraumatic states, symptomatology and phenomenology, and
critical issues in trauma-relevant assessment. Later chapters review structured assessment of traumatic events, diagnostic interviews, general
objective and projective measures, and trauma-specific self-report measures. Abundant references are provided, but not contact data.
(The book does not include the actual content of the instruments it describes.)
Carlson, Eve B. Trauma Assessments: A Clinician’s Guide.
New York: Guilford Press, 1997; ISBN 1-57230-251-8.
This book begins with the theoretical foundation for understanding human responses to traumatic experiences, and goes on to address both
conceptual and practical aspects of choosing and administering measures of trauma and trauma responses, as well asinterpreting results of
assessments and diagnosing trauma-realted disorders. A series of "measure profiles" provides descriptive and psychometric information for
selected measures of traumatic experiences, self-report measures of responses to trauma, structured interviews for posttraumatic and dissociative
disorders, and measures of trauma and trauma responses for children. (The book does not include the actual content of the instruments it describes.)
Stamm, B. Hudnall (ed.). Measurement of Stress, Trauma, and Adaptation.
Lutherville, Maryland: Sidran Press, 1996; ISBN 1-886968-02-0.
Lists and describes in a schematic fashion 99 assessment instruments and their basic properties, and provides references and contact information.
Although it claims to offer "psychometric reviews" of the instruments it lists, this information is often very sketchy and cannot serve as a substitute for consultation of original publications. Several tables compare various features of the instruments covered; these may be helpful in selecting an instrument to use in a particular situation. (The book contains the actual content of some of the instruments it describes.)
Wilson, John P; Keane, Terence M. Assessing Psychological Trauma and PTSD.
New York: Guilford Press, 1997; ISBN 1-57230-162-7.
Intended as "a practical guide for those practitioners, clinicians, and researchers who need to make informed decisions concerning the
assessment of traumatic stress responses." Three parts focus on conceptual approaches and standardized measures of trauma and PTSD; the assessment
of traumatic reactions among victim and survivor populations; and specific techniques for the assessment of traumatic reactions, dissociative
tendencies, and PTSD. The book does not contain the actual assessment instruments, but is the best source of information on the assessment process
and the selection of instruments for a particular purpose.
Book Chapters
Briere, J. (1997). Psychological assessment of child abuse effects in adults. In J. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Ed.), Assessing psychological
trauma and PTSD (pp. 43-68). New York: Guilford.
Keane, T. M., Newman, E., & Orsillo, S. M. (1997). Assessment of military-related posttraumatic stress disorder. In J. Wilson &
T. M. Keane (Ed.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 267-290). New York: Guilford Press.
Manson, S. M. (1997). Cross-cultural and multiethnic assessment of trauma. In J. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Ed.), Assessing psychological
trauma and PTSD (pp. 239-266). New York: Guilford.
Nader, K. (1997). Assessing traumatic experiences in children. In J. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Ed.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD
(pp. 291-348). New York: Guilford.
Norris, F. H., & Riad, J. K. (1997). Standardized self-report measures of civilian trauma and PTSD. In J. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Ed.),
Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 7-42). New York: Guilford.
Solomon, S., Keane, T., Kaloupek, D., & Newman, E. (1996). Choosing self-report measures and structured interviews. In E. B. Carlson (Ed.),
Trauma research methodology (pp. 56-81). Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press. (www.sidran.org)
Newman, E., Kaloupek, D. G., & Keane, T. M. (1996). Assessment of PTSD in clinical and research settings. In B. A. van der Kolk, A. C.
McFarlane, & L. Weisaeth (Ed.), Traumatic stress: The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society (pp. 242- 275).
New York: Guilford Press.
Weiss, D. S. (1997). Structured clinical interview techniques. In J. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Ed.), Assessing psychological trauma and
PTSD (pp. 493-511). New York: Guilford.
Wilson, J. P., & Kurtz, R. R. (1997). Assessing posttraumatic stress disorder in couples and families. In J. Wilson & T. M. Keane
(Ed.), Assessing psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 349-372). New York: Guilford Press.
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