Reappraising the dimensional structure of the PTSD Checklist: lessons from the DSM-IV-based PCL-C

Objective: The dimensional structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been extensively debated, but the literature is still inconclusive and contains gaps that require attention. This article sheds light on hitherto unvisited methodological issues, reappraising several key models advanced for the DSM-IV-based civilian version of the PTSD Checklist (PCL-C) as to their configural and metric structures. Methods: The sample comprised 456 women, interviewed at 6-8 weeks postpartum, who attended a high-complexity facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation models (ESEM) were used to evaluate the dimensional structure of the PCL-C. Results: The original three-factor solution was rejected, along with the four-factor structures most widely endorsed in the literature (PTSD-dysphoria and PTSD-numbing models). Further exploration supported a model comprised of two factors (re-experience/avoidance and numbing/hyperarousal). Conclusion: These findings are at odds with the dimensional structure proposed in both DSM-IV and DSM-5. This also entails a different presumption regarding the latent structure of PTSD and how the PCL should be operationalized.

Reappraising the dimensional structure of the PTSD Checklist: lessons from the DSM-IV-based PCL-C.

OBJECTIVE: The dimensional structure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been extensively debated, but the literature is still inconclusive and contains gaps that require attention. This article sheds light on hitherto unvisited methodological issues, reappraising several key models advanced for the DSM-IV-based civilian version of the PTSD Checklist (PCL-C) as to their configural and metric structures. METHODS: The sample comprised 456 women, interviewed at 6-8 weeks postpartum, who attended a high-complexity facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory structural equation models (ESEM) were used to evaluate the dimensional structure of the PCL-C. RESULTS: The original three-factor solution was rejected, along with the four-factor structures most widely endorsed in the literature (PTSD-dysphoria and PTSD-numbing models). Further exploration supported a model comprised of two factors (re-experience/avoidance and numbing/hyperarousal). CONCLUSION: These findings are at odds with the dimensional structure proposed in both DSM-IV and DSM-5. This also entails a different presumption regarding the latent structure of PTSD and how the PCL should be operationalized.

Nine N-aryl-2-chloronicotinamides: supramolecular structures in one, two and three dimensions.

Structures are reported here for eight further substituted N-aryl-2-chloronicotinamides, 2-ClC(5)H(3)NCONHC(6)H(4)X-4'. When X = H, compound (I) (C(12)H(9)ClN(2)O), the molecules are linked into sheets by N-H...N, C-H...pi(pyridyl) and C-H...pi(arene) hydrogen bonds. For X = CH(3), compound (II) (C(13)H(11)ClN(2)O, triclinic P1 with Z' = 2), the molecules are linked into sheets by N-H...O, C-H...O and C-H...pi(arene) hydrogen bonds. Compound (III), where X = F, crystallizes as a monohydrate (C(12)H(8)ClFN(2)O.H(2)O) and sheets are formed by N-H...O, O-H...O and O-H...N hydrogen bonds and aromatic pi...pi stacking interactions. Crystals of compound (IV), where X = Cl (C(12)H(8)Cl(2)N(2)O, monoclinic P2(1) with Z' = 4) exhibit inversion twinning: the molecules are linked by N-H...O hydrogen bonds into four independent chains, linked in pairs by C-H...pi(arene) hydrogen bonds. When X = Br, compound (V) (C(12)H(8)BrClN(2)O), the molecules are linked into sheets by N-H...O and C-H...N hydrogen bonds, while in compound (VI), where X = I (C(12)H(8)ClIN(2)O), the molecules are linked into a three-dimensional framework by N-H...O and C-H...pi(arene) hydrogen bonds and an iodo...N(pyridyl) interaction. For X = CH(3)O, compound (VII) (C(13)H(11)ClN(2)O(2)), the molecules are linked into chains by a single N-H...O hydrogen bond. Compound (VIII) (C(13)H(8)ClN(3)O, triclinic P1 with Z' = 2), where X = CN, forms a complex three-dimensional framework by N-H...N, C-H...N and C-H...O hydrogen bonds and two independent aromatic pi...pi stacking interactions.