Screening for birth-related PTSD: psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale in postpartum women in Turkey

• Published in: European journal of psychotraumatology Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 1306414 - 10
• Main Authors: Dikmen-Yildiz, Pelin, Ayers, Susan, Phillips, Louise
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 01.01.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Abnormal psychology; Anxiety; Childbirth & labor; Discriminant analysis; factor analysis; PDS; Post traumatic stress disorder; Postpartum period; postpartum women; Premature birth; psychometric properties; Psychopathology; Quantitative psychology; Sex crimes; Systematic review; Trauma; Validity; Womens health; Turkey; factor analysis; postpartum women; psychometric properties; PDS; Post-traumatic stress disorder
• ISSN: 2000-8066; 2000-8066
• DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2017.1306414

Background: Evidence suggests that 4% of women develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth, with a potentially negative impact on women and families. Detection of postpartum PTSD is essential but few measures have been validated in this population. Objective: This study aimed to examine psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) to screen for birth-related PTSD among postpartum women and identify factorial structure of PTSD after birth. Method: PDS was administered to 829 postpartum women recruited from three maternity hospitals in Turkey. Participants with PTSD (N = 68) and a randomly selected group of women without PTSD (N = 66), underwent a structured clinical interview (SCID). Results: PDS demonstrated high internal consistency (α = .89) and test-retest reliability between 4-6 weeks and 6-months postpartum (r s  = .51). PDS showed high concurrent validity with other measures of postpartum psychopathology, r s (829) = .60 for depression and r s (829) = .61 for anxiety. Satisfactory diagnostic agreement was observed between diagnoses obtained by PDS and SCID, with good sensitivity (92%) and specificity (76%). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the latent structure of birth-related PTSD was best identified by a three-factor model: re-experiencing and avoidance (RA), numbing and dysphoric-arousal (NDA) and dysphoric-arousal and anxious-arousal symptoms (DAA). Conclusions: The findings supported use of PDS as an effective screening measure for birth-related PTSD among postpartum women.