Impact of Event Scale Prediction of DSM-IV PTSD and Physical Symptoms in Gulf War Veterans

This study examined the effectiveness of the Impact of Event Scale (IES; Horowitz, Wilner, & Alvarez, Citation1979) variables in detecting posttraumatic stress and physical symptoms in relevant groups of Gulf War veterans. A large sample of Gulf War veterans were administered the the IES, a semi-structured interview (PSS-I; Foa, Riggs, Dancu, & Rothbaum, Citation1993) on DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, Citation1994) criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a Physical Symptom Questionnaire from the National Center for PTSD Patient Medical Information Checklist (1993). This study utilized four groups of veterans: 1) a reserve control group of participants who were in a reserve unit during the Gulf War but not deployed to the Gulf; 2) a Gulf War control group of veterans who were deployed to the Gulf War but did not report any symptoms of PTSD; 3) a subclinical group of Gulf War veterans who reported 1–5 DSM-IV criteria for PTSD; and 4) a group of Gulf War veterans who met DSM-IV criteria for PTSD. Group contrasts supported the hypothesis that IES scores would be significantly different in the expected clinical direction. Analyses also demonstrated significant relationships between IES scores and the number of DSM-IV symptoms of PTSD as well as the number of physical problems reported by these veterans. Keywords: impact of Event ScaleIESPTSDGulf Warveterans Notes Note. RC = Reserve Control group; GW-C = Gulf War Control group; PTSS = Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms group; PTSD = Post Traumatic Stress Disorder group; IES-AV = Impact of Event Scale-Avoidance; IES-INT = Impact of Event Scale-Intrusion; IES-TOT = Impact of Event Scale-Total; Phys Symp = Number of Individual Physical Symptoms (0–37) Reported in the National Center for PTSD Patient Medical Information Checklist (occuring within the last 30 days); n = 124; +Fischer PLSD. ∗p < .001 ∗∗p < .0001. Note. DSM-IV PTSD = Number of Individual DSM-IV Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptom Criteria in Category B, C, and D (0–17); Physical Symptoms = Number of Individual Physical Symptoms (0–37) Reported in the National Center for PTSD Patient Medical Information Checklist (occuring within the last 30 days); IES-AV = Impact of Event Scale-Avoidance; IES-INT = Impact of Event Scale-Intrusion; IES-TOT = Impact of Event Scale-Total.