Journal
PSYCHIATRY RESEARCH
Volume 220, Issue 3, Pages 1118-1124Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2014.08.053
Keywords
Combat exposure; Veterans; PTSD; Depression; Anxiety; Assessment
Categories
Funding
- Career Development Award from the Clinical Science Research and Development Service of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) [IK2 CX000525]
- VA VISN 17 New Investigator Award entitled Genetic and Environmental Effects on PTSD, Depression, and Alcohol Misuse
- Merit Award from the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service of the VA ORD [I01RX000304]
- VA VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans
- Central Texas Veterans Health Care System
- Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center
- VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center
- Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations, Advanced Fellowship Program in Mental Illness Research and Treatment
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The objective of the present research was to develop and evaluate a critical warzone experiences (ONE) scale for use with Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. The psychometric properties of the CWE were evaluated across three independent samples of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans. Despite its brevity (7 items), the CWE exhibited good internal consistency (average alpha =0.83), good temporal stability (1-year test retest reliability= 0.73), good concurrent validity with lengthier measures of warzone experiences (average r=0.74), and a clear unidimensional factor structure (average factor loading=0.69). Study 2 confirmed the CWE's factor structure through confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling demonstrated a strong association between CWE and post-deployment mental health, beta =0.49, p <0.001. Study 3 provided further support for the predictive validity of the CWE by demonstrating that it was associated with PTSD diagnosis, clinician-rated PTSD symptom severity, and global functional impairment in an independent sample of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans (average r= 0.59). While replication of these findings in more diverse samples is needed, the preliminary evidence from these studies indicates that the CWE is a brief, reliable, and valid measure of critical warzone experiences among Iraq/Afghanistan war veterans. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
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