Table 3.
Bivariate associations of socio-demographics, Army career variables, and 30-day psychopathology with DSM-5 PTSD based on the final 4-item short-form PCL-5 scale† and the full PCL-5, assigned using four diagnostic thresholds in the unweighted validation sample (n = 11,728)‡
| PTSD Diagnostic Threshold | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DSM-5 Criteria B-E | PCL-5>=28 | PCL-5>=32 | PCL-5>=38 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Short-form | Full PCL-5 | Short-form | Full PCL-5 | Short-form | Full PCL-5 | Short-form | Full PCL-5 | ||||||||||||||||
| OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | OR | (95% CI) | ||||||||
| I. Socio-demographics and Army Career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Female | 1.5* | (1.4–1.8) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.7) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.7) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.7) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.7) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.7) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.7) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.8) | |||||||
| Low education | 1.7* | (1.5–1.9) | 1.8* | (1.5–2.0) | 1.7* | (1.5–1.9) | 1.6* | (1.5–1.9) | 1.7* | (1.5–1.9) | 1.7* | (1.5–2.0) | 1.6* | (1.4–1.8) | 1.6* | (1.4–1.9) | |||||||
| Low family income | 1.5* | (1.3–1.7) | 1.4* | (1.2–1.5) | 1.4* | (1.3–1.6) | 1.3* | (1.2–1.5) | 1.4* | (1.3–1.6) | 1.4* | (1.2–1.5) | 1.5* | (1.4–1.7) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.7) | |||||||
| Minority status | 1.3* | (1.2–1.5) | 1.2* | (1.1–1.4) | 1.3* | (1.1–1.4) | 1.2* | (1.1–1.3) | 1.3* | (1.1–1.4) | 1.3* | (1.1–1.4) | 1.3* | (1.2–1.5) | 1.3* | (1.1–1.5) | |||||||
| Junior enlisted rank (E1-E4) | 1.2* | (1.1–1.3) | 1.2* | (1.1–1.4) | 1.2* | (1.0–1.3) | 1.2 | (1.0–1.3) | 1.2 | (1.0–1.3) | 1.1* | (1.0–1.2) | 1.2* | (1.0–1.3) | 1.1 | (1.0–1.2) | |||||||
| History of multiple combat deployments | 1.3* | (1.2–1.5) | 1.4* | (1.2–1.6) | 1.4* | (1.3–1.6) | 1.4* | (1.3–1.6) | 1.4* | (1.3–1.6) | 1.5* | (1.3–1.6) | 1.4* | (1.3–1.6) | 1.5* | (1.4–1.7) | |||||||
| II. Psychopathology | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major depressive episode | 39.4* | (34.3–45.3) | 35.3* | (30.8–40.5) | 35.5* | (31.0–40.6) | 42.5* | (37.0–48.8) | 35.5* | (31.0–40.6) | 42.1* | (36.6–48.4) | 44.3* | (38.2–41.4) | 46.4* | (39.8–53.9) | |||||||
| Generalized anxiety disorder | 41.9* | (36.3–48.3) | 39.1* | (34.0–45.0) | 39.7* | (34.5–45.7) | 45.7* | (39.6–52.8) | 39.7* | (34.5–45.7) | 47.7* | (41.3–55.2) | 48.3* | (41.5–56.1) | 56.5* | (48.4–66.0) | |||||||
| Panic disorder | 14.5* | (11.7–17.8) | 16.1* | (13.0–20.0) | 16.3* | (13.1–20.4) | 18.8* | (15.0–23.6) | 16.3* | (13.1–20.4) | 18.8* | (15.1–23.4) | 13.5* | (11.0–16.5) | 15.3* | (12.4–18.8) | |||||||
| Intermittent explosive disorder | 10.4* | (9.1–11.8) | 9.4* | (8.3–10.7) | 10.5* | (9.2–11.8) | 10.2* | (9.0–11.6) | 10.5* | (9.2–11.9) | 10.1* | (8.9–11.5) | 11.1* | (9.8–12.7) | 10.7* | (9.3–12.2) | |||||||
| Suicide ideation | 9.9* | (8.4–11.5) | 8.6* | (7.4–10.0) | 9.8* | (8.4–11.4) | 10.7* | (9.2–12.5) | 9.8* | (8.4–11.4) | 10.9* | (9.3–12.7) | 10.2* | (8.7–11.9) | 10.2* | (8.7–11.9) | |||||||
*
Significant at the .05 level, two-sided test
†
The final 4-item short-form PCL scale was optimized to predict PCL>=28. See text for more detail.
‡
PTSD diagnoses using the short-form scale were dichotomized at the threshold with the lowest McNemar test (i.e., with a prevalence estimate closest to the prevalence estimate in the full PCL-5) for each of the four PTSD outcomes.