A short form of the Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD.

At the present time, The Mississippi Scale for Combat-Related PTSD (Mississippi Scale) is the best paper-and-pencil measure of this disorder. This study carried out a test-retest reliability on 52 chronic Vietnam veterans with PTSD and established three psychometric criteria for item retention in order to establish a short form of the Mississippi Scale. Ten items met these criteria and had a test-retest reliability coefficient of .66 (under the most stringent of conditions, treatment). This 10-item measure (Miss-10) then was applied to 95 new PTSD cases. This scale yielded two factors, guilt and numbing/anger. Discussion addressed its use as part of a screening battery or for monitoring change across time.