Assessing mental health and psychosocial status in communities exposed to traumatic events: Sri Lanka as an example

The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of psychosocial status that could reliably and accurately assess psychosocial functioning in Sinhalese Sri Lankans impacted by traumatic events. A culturally grounded methodology using qualitative data was used to develop and validate the Sri Lankan Index of Psychosocial Status--Adult Version (SLIPSS-A). The SLIPPS-A is a 26-item measure assessing local indicators of distress, with items placed on a frequency scale from 0 (never) to 4 (6-7 days per week). The instrument was administered to 170 Sinhalese Sri Lankans (72% women) between the ages of 21 and 71 years with differing types of trauma exposure. The measure demonstrated excellent reliability (alpha = .92) and was significantly correlated with the Postraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist. Scores on the SLIPSS-A significantly predicted exposure to the tsunami. Factor analysis resulted in the extraction of five factors. The results suggest that the SLIPSS-A could be used as a general measure to assess psychosocial functioning in Sri Lankan rural Sinhalese adults impacted by trauma.