There are two similar but not identical, recognised sets of diagnostic criteria for mental health problems: In some cases, a person’s particular profile of difficulties may not meet the threshold for a diagnosis, but they can still be very distressing and warrant treatment. Identifying these groupings helps professionals communicate effectively and, more importantly, supports research to identify what works to help people experiencing difficulties. In mental health, diagnoses often describe a group of shared thoughts, behaviours and symptoms. A diagnosis should help the person experiencing symptoms and should always be used in the context of a wider understanding of the person’s needs, challenges and strengths when developing care plans. Official diagnostic criteria describe which symptoms are necessary for any particular diagnosis.
What is a diagnosis?Ī diagnosis is a formal label that describes a certain set of problems or symptoms. PTSD does not describe the full range of reactions to traumatic events there will be many children and young people who are ‘traumatised’ by events, but their particular difficulties will not fulfil the criteria for PTSD. This measure was created by staff at VA's National Center for PTSD.PTSD is the diagnostic label used to describe a particular profile of symptoms that people sometimes develop after experiencing or witnessing a potentially traumatic event or events. Psychometric properties of the Life Events Checklist. Gray, M., Litz, B., Hsu, J., & Lombardo, T.
Instrument available from the National Center for PTSD at References (LEC for DSM-IV) The Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5). Weathers, F.W., Blake, D.D., Schnurr, P.P., Kaloupek, D.G., Marx, B.P., & Keane, T.M. Response: Happened to me Witnessed it Learned about it Part of my job Not sure Doesn't apply.Item: Natural disaster (for example, flood, hurricane, tornado, earthquake).Interview: to establish if Criterion A is met.Extended self-report: to establish worst event if more than one event occurred.Standard self-report: to establish if an event occurred.Three formats of the LEC-5 are available: The LEC-5 is often used in combination with other measures (e.g., CAPS-5, PCL-5) for the purpose of establishing exposure to a PTSD Criterion A traumatic event. The LEC-5 does not yield a total score or composite score. Respondents indicate varying levels of exposure to each type of potentially traumatic event included on a 6-point nominal scale, and respondents may endorse multiple levels of exposure to the same trauma type. There is no formal scoring protocol or interpretation per se, other than identifying whether a person has experienced one or more of the events listed.
The LEC-5 is intended to gather information about the potentially traumatic experiences a person has experienced. Given the minimal revisions from the original version of the LEC, few psychometric differences are expected. Psychometrics are not currently available for the LEC-5. Response category "Part of my job" was added.Item 15 "Sudden, unexpected death of someone close to you" was changed to "Sudden accidental death".However, the LEC did not establish that the respondent has experienced an event with sufficient severity to meet DSM-IV criteria for a traumatic exposure.Ĭhanges between the original LEC and LEC-5 are minimal: The original LEC also demonstrated convergent validity with measures assessing varying levels of exposure to potentially traumatic events and psychopathology known to relate to traumatic exposure. The LEC demonstrated adequate psychometric properties as a stand-alone assessment of traumatic exposure, particularly when evaluating consistency of events that actually happened to a respondent. The LEC was originally developed concurrently with the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-IV (CAPS) to be administered before the CAPS. The LEC-5 assesses exposure to 16 events known to potentially result in PTSD or distress and includes one additional item assessing any other extraordinarily stressful event not captured in the first 16 items. The Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5) is a self-report measure designed to screen for potentially traumatic events in a respondent's lifetime. VA Software Documentation Library (VDL).Clinical Trainees (Academic Affiliations).War Related Illness & Injury Study Center.