[Validation of the Screening for Complex PTSD (SkPTBS) - Revision]

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Trauma Studies

Background:

• Complex Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (cPTSD) requires specialized screening tools.
• Existing instruments need alignment with current diagnostic criteria, such as ICD-11 proposals.
• The Screening for cPTSD (SkPTBS) by Dorr et al. (2016) was revised to meet these needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To revise and validate the SkPTBS screening instrument for cPTSD based on ICD-11 criteria.
• To assess the feasibility and reliability of the revised SkPTBS in clinical populations.
• To establish norms for the SkPTBS across different demographic and clinical groups.

Main Methods:

• The revised SkPTBS was administered to 525 patients (rehabilitation and outpatient trauma center) at the start of treatment.
• Validation employed current complex PTSD diagnoses, SCID, and the Interview for complex PTSD (IkPTBS).
• Internal reliability (Cronbach's α=0.91) and factor structure were analyzed.

Main Results:

• 17% of patients (88/525) were diagnosed with complex PTSD.
• The revised SkPTBS demonstrated good internal reliability and a replicated one-dimensional factor structure.
• Correlations were found with measures of posttraumatic, dissociative, depressive symptoms, and global symptom severity.

Conclusions:

• The revised SkPTBS is a feasible, brief, and reliable instrument for identifying individuals at risk for complex PTSD.
• The tool can be freely utilized for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in clinical settings.
• This revised screening instrument supports timely and accurate identification of cPTSD.