A Psychometric Evaluation of the Revised Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5-R) in a Trauma-Exposed Community Sample

Abstract

The Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) is a widely used, well-validated structured diagnostic interview for PTSD. The CAPS-5 was recently revised to address limitations of the current instrument. This thesis presents a review of current psychometric data on the CAPS-5 and the results of a psychometric evaluation of the revised instrument, known as the revised Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5-R). Participants were 73 community members with mixed-trauma exposure (e.g., sexual/physical assault, transportation accident, unexpected death of a loved one). CAPS-5-R diagnosis revealed strong interrater reliability (к = .86 to .93, depending on the scoring rule), test-retest reliability (к = .73 to .79, depending on the scoring rule), and alternate forms reliability with the CAPS-5 (к = .79 to .93, depending on the scoring rule). CAPS-5-R total severity scores revealed high interrater reliability (ICC = .98), test-retest reliability (ICC = .86), and alternate forms reliability with the CAPS-5 (ICC = .94). Further, the CAPS-5-R demonstrated strong convergent validity with other measures of PTSD (e.g., PCL-5, DAPS-2) and good discriminant validity with relevant external correlates (e.g., depression, anxiety, alcohol problems, somatic concerns, mania). The results of this study provide promising evidence that the CAPS-5-R is a psychometrically sound measure of DSM-5-TR PTSD and a valuable update of the current CAPS-5.