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

摘要

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.