Acceptability and feasibility of the clinician-administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 training simulator

The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) is regarded as the state-of-the-art method for diagnosing Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To address the high demand for training in the CAPS-5, we developed the CAPS-5 Training Simulator (CAPSim), an online program in which learners administer the CAPS-5 to lifelike virtual PTSD patients and receive feedback on their performance.

We created three virtual standardized PTSD patients who respond verbally to learners' spoken or typed prompts. Complexity and availability of in-course feedback varied across patients. The program was then made available to interested learners, and data on program use and user performance were collected to determine acceptability and feasibility.

Over the first 4 years of the program, 4,484 users accessed the training. Of those who started the course (N = 3,022), most (83.6%) completed it. Although CAPS-5 familiarity varied, more than half of the users (58.3%) reported being moderately familiar with the CAPS-5 at baseline. Administration and scoring accuracy varied by virtual patient and by CAPS-5 item, with overall accuracy ranging from near perfect to 77.1% incorrect. Whereas the initial symptom prompts were delivered verbatim 76.2% of the time, in-sequence and additional required prompts were administered with less accuracy (46.0% and 39.2%, respectively).

The CAPSim is an innovative method for training CAPS-5 learners with various skill levels. The CAPSim can identify specific administrative and scoring challenges and provide personalized feedback in a manner that appears acceptable to learners. The CAPSim has promise to meet the high demand for CAPS-5 training. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).