Post Traumatic Stress Assessment
Use when asked to administer, score, or explain a Post-Traumatic Stress Assessment — DSM-5-aligned PTSD screening using the PCL-5 — grounded in FormExamples/form-examples.
Post-traumatic stress symptom screen based on the DSM-5-aligned PCL-5 (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5), used to identify probable PTSD, monitor severity, and track response to trauma-focused therapy.
Scoring
Instrument: PCL-5 — 20 items scored 0–4, total 0–80.
- Minimal (0–20) — below clinical concern.
- Mild (21–32) — sub-threshold symptoms; monitor and offer support.
- Moderate (33–37) — probable PTSD (≥ 33 is the recommended provisional cut-off); diagnostic interview recommended.
- Severe (38–80) — clinically significant PTSD; trauma-focused therapy indicated.
What it covers
Demographics; trauma event identification; intrusion symptoms (DSM-5 Cluster B); avoidance symptoms (Cluster C); negative alterations in cognitions and mood (Cluster D); and alterations in arousal and reactivity (Cluster E).
Common pitfalls
- Treating the PCL-5 total as diagnostic on its own — the ≥ 33 cut-off is a provisional threshold prompting a full diagnostic interview; it's a screening result, not a standalone diagnosis.
- Administering it without first identifying the index trauma event — PCL-5 items are rated in relation to a specific identified traumatic event; skipping trauma-event identification makes the ratings ambiguous about what they're actually measuring.
- Missing avoidance symptoms because they're less visible — avoidance (Cluster C) often presents as absence of behavior rather than a distressing symptom actively reported, making it easy to under-elicit without directly asking.
Learn more
- FormExamples: post-traumatic-stress-assessment for the full implementation, clinical references, and worked examples.
- Mental Health Assessment, Substance Abuse Assessment for related mental-health assessments.