The validity of screening for post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression among Vietnamese former political prisoners
- 1 February 1997
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica
- Vol. 95 (2), 87-93
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1997.tb00379.x
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the validity of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) and the depression sub-scale of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) in screening for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) among Vietnamese former political prisoners (POWs). The study population included Vietnamese POWs (n= 51) who migrated to the Boston metropolitan area between January 1990 and July 1992 under the Special Released Re-education Center Detainees Resettlement Program. The criterion validity of the HTQ in assessing PTSD and of the depression sub-scale of the HSCL-25 in assessing MDD is supported by the results. Consideration of an appropriate cut-off score should include examination of the utility of a given screening instrument for PTSD or MDD within different settings, such as refugee camps vs. countries of third asylum.Keywords
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