Trauma symptom inventory explained

The Trauma Symptom Inventory (TSI) is a psychological evaluation/assessment instrument that taps symptoms of Posttraumatic stress disorder and other posttraumatic emotional problems. It was originally published in 1995 ^[1] by its developer, John Briere. It is one of the most widely used measures of posttraumatic symptomatology.^[2]

The TSI is relatively unique in comparison to other measures of posttraumatic symptomatology, in that it is a multi-scale instrument, including 10 scales of various forms of clinical psychopathology related to psychological trauma. Also unique, it has three validity scales in order to assess the trauma victim's test-taking attitude, such as overreporting, underreporting and inconsistency. The TSI was not developed to detect the Malingering of posttraumatic stress disorder although clinicians have used it to do so. Research shows that the TSI serves as a general validity screen but should be used cautiously in detecting malingered PTSD.^[3]

Original psychometric data on the TSI demonstrated statistically adequate internal consistency (alphas ranging from .84 to .87).^[4] Validity with a civilian trauma-exposed sample has been demonstrated, with substantial relationships found between the TSI's clinical scale scores and other established measures of PTSD.^[5] Further corroboration of the TSI's psychometric properties, with trauma-exposed military veterans, was recently documented.^[6]

In 2011 a second edition of the TSI was published (TSI-2),^[7] Initial research demonstrated improved ability to detect simulated PTSD.^[8] Research in Sweden found the TSI-2 to be statistically sound and a good broad-spectrum assessment instrument.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Book: Briere, J.. Trauma Symptom Inventory professional manual. 1995. Psychological Assessment Resources..
2. Elhai, J. D., Gray, M. J., Kashdan, T. B., & Franklin, C. L. . Which instruments are most commonly used to assess traumatic event exposure and posttraumatic effects?: A survey of traumatic stress professionals . Journal of Traumatic Stress. 2005 . 18 . 5 . 541–545. 10.1002/jts.20062 . 16281252.
3. Elhai, J. D., Gray, M. J., Naifeh, J. A., Butcher, J. J., Davis, J. L., Falsetti, S. A., & Best, C. L. . Utility of the Trauma Symptom Inventory's Atypical Response Scale in detecting malingered post-traumatic stress disorder . Assessment. 2005 . 12 . 2 . 210–219 . 10.1177/1073191105275456 . 15914722. 39895515 .
4. Briere, J., Elliott, D. M., Harris, K., & Cotman, A. . Trauma Symptom Inventory: Psychometrics and association with childhood and adult victimization in clinical samples . Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 10 . 387–401 . 10.1177/088626095010004001. 145485753 .
5. McDevitt-Murphy, M. E., Weathers, F. W., & Adkins, J. W. . The use of the Trauma Symptom Inventory in the assessment of PTSD symptoms . Journal of Traumatic Stress. 2005 . 18 . 1 . 63–67. 10.1002/jts.20003. 16281197 .
6. Snyder, J. J., Elhai, J. D., North, T. C., & Heaney, C. J.. Reliability and validity of the Trauma Symptom Inventory with veterans evaluated for posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychiatry Research. 2009 . 170 . 2–3 . 256–261. 10.1016/j.psychres.2008.11.008. 19906433 . 7468554 .
7. Book: Briere, J.. Trauma Symptom Inventory-2 professional manual. 2011. Psychological Assessment Resources..
8. Gray, M. J., Elhai, J. D., & Briere, J.. Evaluation of the Atypical Response Scale of the Trauma Symptom Inventory-2 in detecting simulated posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders. 2010 . 24 . 5 . 447–451. 10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.02.011. 20347258 .
9. Nilsson . D. . Dahlström . Ö. . Wadsby . M. . Kerstin Bergh Johannesson . Bergh Johannesson . K. . Evaluation of the Swedish Trauma Symptom Inventory-2 in a clinical and a student population . European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation . Elsevier BV . 2 . 2 . 2018 . 2468-7499 . 10.1016/j.ejtd.2017.10.006 . 71–82. 80580756 .