Abstract
Factor analysis is applied to the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to reduce the multidimensional symptom space to 2 dimensions; 1 dimension strongly correlated with depressive symptoms and 1 independent dimension weakly correlated with depressive symptoms. These factors are used to assess whether the effectiveness of an antidepressant medication is due to its antidepressant effect. The treatment is shown to be effective in both dimensions. The factor analysis sheds light on the symptom structure of PTSD, supports PTSD as a distinct psychiatric disorder, and supports the current diagnostic criteria.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blake, D. D., Weathers, F. W., Nagy, C. M., Kaloupek, D. G., Gusman, F. D., Charney, D. S., et al. (1995). The development of a clinician-administered PTSD scale. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 8, 75–90.
Brady, K. T., Pearlstein, T., Asnis, G. M., Baker, D., Rothbaum, B., Sikes C. R., et al. (2000). Efficacy and safety of sertraline treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association, 283, 1837–1844.
Buckley, T. C., Blanchard, E. B., & Hickling, E. J. (1998). A confirmatory factor analysis of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 1091–1099.
Connor, K. M., Sutherland, S. M., Tupler, L. A., Malik, M. L., & Davidson, J. R. T. (1999). Fluoxetine in post-traumatic stress disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 175, 17–22.
Davidson, J. R. T., Bock, S. W., & Colket, J. T. (1997). Assessment of a new self-rating for PTSD. Psychological Medicine, 27, 153–160.
Davidson, J. R. T., Rothbaum, B. O., van der Kolk, B. A., Sikes, C. R., & Farfel, G. M. (2001). Multi-center, double-blind comparison of sertraline and placebo in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58, 485–492.
Foa, E., Davidson, J. R. T., & Frances, A. (Eds.). (1999). The Expert Consensus Guideline Series. Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60(Suppl. 16).
Foa, E., Riggs, D. S., & Gershuny, B. S. (1995). Arousal, numbing and intrusion: Symptom structure of PTSD following assault. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 116–120.
Keane, T. M., Taylor, K. L., & Penk, W. E. (1997). Differentiating post-traumatic stress disorder from major depression and generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 11, 317–328.
Kesseler, R. C., Sonnega, A., Bromet, E., Hughes, M., & Nelson, C. B. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 1048–1069.
Marshall, R. D., Schneier, F. R., Fallon, S. A., Knight, C. B. G., Abbate, L. A., Goetz, D., et al. (1998). An open trial of paroxetine in patients with noncombat-related chronic posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 18, 10–18.
Rothbaum, B. O., Ninan, P. T., & Thomas, L. (1996). Sertraline in the treatment of rape victims with posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 865–871.
Taylor, S., Kuch, K., Koch, W. J., Crockett, D. J., & Passey, G. (1998). The structure of posttraumatic stress symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 107, 154–160.
Weathers, F. W., Keane, T. M., & Davidson, J. R. (2001). Clinician-administered PTSD scale: A review of the first ten years of research. Depression and Anxiety, 13, 132–156.
Wolfe, J., & Keane, T. M. (1990). Diagnostic validity of posttraumatic stress disorder. In M. E. Wolfe & A. D. Mosnaim (Eds.), Post-traumatic stress disorder: Etiology, phenomenology, and treatment (pp. 49–63). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.
Yehuda, R., & McFarlane, A. C. (1995). Conflict between current knowledge about posttraumatic stress disorder and its original conceptual basis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 1705–1713.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Gaffney, M. Factor Analysis of Treatment Response in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. J Trauma Stress 16, 77–80 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022067512964
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022067512964