[Diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) by the Structured Clinical Interview SCID-I].

OBJECTIVES Valid and reliable diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder is important for clinical practice, scientific research and forensic settings. The aim of the study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Polish version of SCID-I F Module for the diagnosis of PTSD. METHODS Five hundred twenty six motor vehicle accident survivors participated in the study. Clinical diagnosis was based on SCID-I-PTSD interview. Participants filled out a set of self-report inventories concerning PTSD symptoms (PDS), depression (BDI-II), anxiety (STAI) and posttraumatic cognitions (PTCI). RESULTS The interview assessment showed high reliability and both convergent and discriminative validity. SCID-I-PTSD interview proved to be more specific than PDS inventory. Interview items show good psychometric properties (except an item C3) and no differential item functioning for sex. Latent structure analysis of PTSD symptoms were nonconclusive. CONCLUSIONS A part of Module F of the SCID-I, a structured clinical interview for the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder is a valid and reliable psychometric tool useful for the diagnosis of PTSD.