Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS)

Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS)

This was developed and validated by Foa (1995). This scale is basically screen out the presence of PTSD in patients. The time limit for the completion of this test is ten to fifteen minutes. Test items were selected for this test under Diagnostic Statistical Manual IV, (DSM-IV). Language of this test is simple and easy to understand that reflect intrusive thoughts and hyper arousal. This test is consisted of forty nine items. A check list is used in this test to identify the traumatic events of the respondents. Respondents are rated under their responses and try to determine the stressor criteria of DSM-IV.

Under four point scale respondents are rated. Seventeen items reflect the cardinal symptoms of PTSD of the past thirty days. The cut score for the severity of symptoms of PTSD is_ rating from 0 to 68 and consisted of ,1-10 mild, 11-20 moderate, 21-35 moderate to severe and over 36 severe. It has face validity that directly reflect the high internal consistency and coefficient alpha is 0.92. Test—retest reliability was also highly satisfactory for a diagnosis of PTSD.