Clinical Evaluation of a Measure to Assess Combat Exposure

The Combat Exposure Scale (CES) was constructed as an attempt to measure the subjective report of wartime stressors experienced by combatants. This sequence of three studies demonstrates that the CES possesses sound psychometric properties. These include internal stability and test-retest reliability. As predicted from other studies on this topic, those veterans with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder reported higher amounts of combat exposure. The limitations of a purely retrospective measure of combat stressors are discussed.