The assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder: with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale: Dutch results

The Clinician Administered PTSD Scale was employed with 76 traumatized Dutch subjects from different treatment centers and one social rehabilitation center. Subjects were traumatized either in childhood, in adolescence, or in early adulthood. The CAPS showed an overall agreement with clinical diagnosis of 79%, with a kappa coefficient of .58. Interrater agreement on the CAPS subscales of intensity (intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal) varied from .93 to .98. The internal consistency for all core symptoms of DSM-III-R at the CAPS intensity level for current PTSD was .89, and for lifetime PTSD .86. Concurrent validity was established by correlating the CAPS with the Mississippi Scale, the MMPI, and the Impact of Event Scale. All correlations were significant beyond .001. Finally, the CAPS items, both core symptoms and associative features, are discussed in detail at item level.