The Correspondence of Daily and Retrospective PTSD Reports among Female Victims of Sexual Assault

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: The Correspondence of Daily and Retrospective PTSD Reports among Female Victims of Sexual Assault
Language: English
Authors: Naragon-Gainey, Kristin, Simpson, Tracy L., Moore, Sally A.
Source: Psychological Assessment. Dec 2012 24(4):1041-1047.
Availability: American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org/publications
Peer Reviewed: Y
Physical Description: PDF
Page Count: 7
Publication Date: 2012
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Depression (Psychology), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Sexual Abuse, Females, Symptoms (Individual Disorders), Check Lists, College Students, Correlation, Hierarchical Linear Modeling, Scores, Victims
DOI: 10.1037/a0028518
ISSN: 1040-3590
Abstract: Research addressing the association between daily and retrospective symptom reports suggests that retrospective reports are typically inflated. The present study examined the association between daily posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reports over 1 month and a corresponding retrospective report (PTSD Checklist [PCL]; Weathers et al., 1993) for both total scores and symptom clusters. The authors hypothesized that greater PTSD symptom instability and greater depression would be associated with poorer agreement between daily and retrospective reports. Data were collected from 132 female college students who were sexually assaulted. Multilevel modeling indicated very strong agreement between mean daily and retrospective reports for total scores and symptom clusters, with pseudo-R2 ranging from 0.55 to 0.77. Depression symptoms did not moderate this association, but daily-retrospective agreement was lowest for the avoidance cluster, which was also the most unstable. Finally, retrospective recall for each symptom cluster showed acceptable specificity to the corresponding daily symptom clusters. Overall, these findings suggest that retrospective memories for global PTSD symptoms and symptom clusters, as assessed by the PCL, are consistent with daily reports over a 1-month period. Implications for clinical assessment methodology are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 6 footnotes.)
Abstractor: As Provided
Number of References: 34
Entry Date: 2013
Accession Number: EJ991989
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Research addressing the association between daily and retrospective symptom reports suggests that retrospective reports are typically inflated. The present study examined the association between daily posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom reports over 1 month and a corresponding retrospective report (PTSD Checklist [PCL]; Weathers et al., 1993) for both total scores and symptom clusters. The authors hypothesized that greater PTSD symptom instability and greater depression would be associated with poorer agreement between daily and retrospective reports. Data were collected from 132 female college students who were sexually assaulted. Multilevel modeling indicated very strong agreement between mean daily and retrospective reports for total scores and symptom clusters, with pseudo-R2 ranging from 0.55 to 0.77. Depression symptoms did not moderate this association, but daily-retrospective agreement was lowest for the avoidance cluster, which was also the most unstable. Finally, retrospective recall for each symptom cluster showed acceptable specificity to the corresponding daily symptom clusters. Overall, these findings suggest that retrospective memories for global PTSD symptoms and symptom clusters, as assessed by the PCL, are consistent with daily reports over a 1-month period. Implications for clinical assessment methodology are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 6 footnotes.)
ISSN:1040-3590
DOI:10.1037/a0028518