Use of the Mississippi scale for combat-related PTSD in detecting war-related, non-combat stress symptomatology

This study investigated the effectiveness of the Mississippi Scale for Desert Storm War Zone Personnel (M-PTSD-DS), developed from the Mississippi Scale for Combat Related PTSD (M-PTSD; Keane, Caddell, & Taylor, 1988), in the measurement of varying degrees of war-related post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptomatology of non-combat Persian Gulf War veterans. Thirty Marines were administered the M-PTSD-DS after 3 months of active duty in Operation Desert Storm. The M-PTSD-DS scores of the Marines were related significantly to the number of PTS symptoms reported by the Marines. This scale appears to be quite effective in detecting varying degrees of war-related stress in non-combatants.