Logo: to the web site of the Swedish Defence University

Purpose

The aim was to explore if self-rated psychological symptoms in military veterans covary strong enough with established PTSD scales to make a symptom checklist a useful screening tool.

Methodology

A Swedish sample of military veterans (n = 1,859) responded to a questionnaire which contained a checklist of ten psychological symptoms and a test of PTSD indication. The items measured the situation during the last month. All symptoms had the following response choices: 1 (Never), 2 (Seldom), 3 (Sometimes), 4 (Often) and 5 (Very often). The choices Often and Very often were combined and form the basis of the analysis.

Findings

The majority of individuals in the military sample reported that they had not experienced any of the ten psychological symptoms often or very often during the last month. Approximately 5% of the men and 9% of the women scored five symptoms or more. Among the men who reported five symptoms or more, about one third scored above a higher established PTSD cut-off value (PCL-4 > 44).

Originality

The psychological symptom checklist represents a new approach to PTSD indication screening and identification of individuals who may need further support.

Research limitations and strengths

Clinical assessment of PTSD would be a necessary complement for those that indicate further need. Study strengths include a large sample, use of established scales and a straightforward and simple statistical analysis.

Practical implications

The checklist is easy to administer and score. After a brief introduction, it takes about two minutes to complete.