A Validation of the PCL-5 Questionnaire for PTSD in Primary and Secondary Care

Objective: This paper explored the factor structure of the PCL-5 within a sample of U.K. primary and secondary care mental health service users. Much of the previous investigations into the PCL-5 have been conducted on military or emergency service personnel; therefore, it is important to understand the validity of this tool within a broader sample. In addition to this concerns have been raised over the statistical validity of much of the previous research. Method: An exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure of the PCL-5 within this population. Results: The results of this study suggest that several items of the PCL-5 should be removed, and this presents a 3-factor structure whereby the factors are Anhedonia, Intrusion and Negative alterations in Mood and Cognition. Conclusions: This challenges much of the previous literature, which suggested 4, 6, and 7 factor models. The implications of this are discussed in detail in this paper.

Automated summary

This paper explores the factor structure of the PCL-5 within a sample of UK mental health service users and challenges previous literature by proposing a new three-factor structure.