The IES-R is a 22-item self-report measure that assesses
subjective distress caused by traumatic events. It is a revised
version of the older version, the 15-item IES (Horowitz, Wilner,
& Alvarez, 1979). The IES-R contains 7 additional items related
to the hyperarousal symptoms of PTSD, which were not included in
the original IES. Items correspond directly to 14 of the 17 DSM-IV
symptoms of PTSD.Respondents are asked to identify a specific
stressful life event and then indicate how much they were
distressed or bothered during the past seven days by each
"difficulty" listed. Items are rated on a 5-point scale ranging
from 0 ("not at all") to 4 ("extremely"). The IES-R yields a total
score (ranging from 0 to 88) and subscale scores can also be
calculated for the Intrusion, Avoidance, and Hyperarousal
subscales. The authors recommend using means instead of raw sums
for each of these subscales scores to allow comparison with scores
from the Symptom Checklist 90 – Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis,
1994). In general, the IES-R (and IES) is not used to diagnosis
PTSD, however, cutoff scores for a preliminary diagnosis of PTSD
have been cited in the literature.
Sample Item
"Any reminders brought back feelings about it." (Respondents
rate their degree of distress during the past 7 days.)
Versions
The 15-item IES is the original scale, but is missing
hyperarousal symptoms (Horowitz, Wilner, & Alvarez, 1979).
References
Weiss, D. S., & Marmar, C. R. (1996). The Impact of Event
Scale - Revised. In J. Wilson & T. M. Keane (Eds.), Assessing
psychological trauma and PTSD (pp. 399-411). New York: Guilford.
(NOTE: Includes measure in its entirety.)
Orsillo, Susan M. (2001). Measures for acute stress disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder. In M.M. Antony & S.M. Orsillo (Eds.), Practitioner's guide to empirically based measures of anxiety (pp. 255-307). New York: KluwerAcademic/Plenum. PILOTS ID 24368
To obtain scale, contact
Daniel Weiss, Ph.D.
Department of Psychiatry
University of California - San Francisco
Box F-0984
San Francisco, CA 94143-0984
