Reliability and validity of the Japanese-language version of the impact of event scale-revised (IES-R-J): four studies of different traumatic events

J Nerv Ment Dis. 2002 Mar;190(3):175-82. doi: 10.1097/00005053-200203000-00006.

Abstract

The authors developed the Japanese-language version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-J) and investigated its reliability and validity in four different groups: workers with lifetime mixed traumatic events, survivors of an arsenic poisoning case, survivors of the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake, and survivors of the Tokyo Metro sarin attack. Evidence includes retest reliability and internal consistency of the IES-R-J. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and partial PTSD cases indicated significantly higher scores than non-PTSD cases. The IES-R-J can be a useful self-rating diagnostic instrument particularly for survivors with PTSD symptoms as a clinical concern (PTSD + partial PTSD) by using a 24/25 cutoff in total score. In analysis of scale structure, the majority of intrusion and hyperarousal items were subsumed under the same cluster, whereas avoidance items made up a separate cluster. Female patients indicated higher scores than male patients. A negative weak correlation between age and the score was found only among female earthquake survivors. The IES-R-J can be used as a validated instrument in future international comparative research.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison*
  • Disasters
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Japan
  • Life Change Events*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Personality Inventory / statistics & numerical data*
  • Psychometrics
  • Reference Values
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / diagnosis*
  • Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / psychology
  • Terrorism / psychology