The Effectiveness of the Penn Inventory for Predicting Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptomatology in Female Civilians

This study examined the Penn Inventory, for predicting PTSD symptomatology in 100 female civilians classified into one of three groups that varied with regard to PTSD and psychiatric symptomatology: PTSD only, non-PTSD with psychiatric symptoms (clinical), and non-PTSD with no psychiatric symptoms (non-clinical). Mean scores on the Penn were the highest for those in the PTSD only group. Across groups, the Penn was highly correlated with the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale (PDS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Hierarchical regressions revealed that the Penn total score did not explain variance in PDS scores that were not already accounted for by the BDI. A subsequent analysis utilizing only selected factor analytically derived Penn items that heavily loaded on PTSD symptomatology did, however, predict PDS scores. This study suggests that the Penn Inventory total score may not be an adequate gauge of PTSD symptoms in female civilians. A subset of Penn items was, however, predictive of PTSD symptomatology.