Validation of the PCL-5 for First Responders and Veterans: New Evidence for an Eight-Factor Model of DSM-5 PTSD
Aazi Ahmadi1, Warren N Ponder, Jose Carbajal
1From the University of North Texas, Denton, Texas (A.A.); One Tribe Foundation, Euless, Texas (W.N.P.); Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas (J.C., C.R.C.); University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas (D.L.S.); and Department of Public Health, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi (R.A.Y.).
Objective:
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) presents with complex symptom patterns in high-risk occupational groups. We validated an eight-factor DSM-5 PTSD model of the PCL-5, distinguishing between internally and externally cued intrusions, and examined associations with resilience and suicidality among first responders and veterans.
Methods:
Treatment-seeking first responders (n = 291) and veterans (n = 393) completed the PCL-5, RSES-22, and SBQ-R. Subgroup confirmatory factor analyses compared eight PTSD models; correlations tested convergent and criterion validity.
Results:
The eight-factor model fit best in both groups, outperforming all alternatives, including the seven-factor hybrid. Separating internal and external intrusions clarified the symptom structure. PCL-5 severity correlated negatively with resilience and positively with suicidality.
Conclusions:
The eight-factor configuration better captures PTSD in high-trauma occupations, potentially enhancing clinical precision, and supports integrating resilience building within transdiagnostic, preventive frameworks alongside evidence-based trauma treatments.
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