Background: Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R), that evaluates the subjective perception of stress, is used to assess post traumatic stress disorder simptoms.
Aim: To adapt and validate IES-R to the Chilean population.
Material and methods: Two hundred seventy eight subjects exposed to stressful life events of varying magnitude were assessed using the IES-R, the Beck Depression Inventory, the anxiety and somatoform subscales of the Depressive, Anxiety and Somatoform Disorders Scale and the AUDIT Questionnaire.
Results: IES-R had adequate psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, convergent and discriminating validity. It identified a principal factor, explaining 67% of the variance.
Conclusions: The IES-R can be used in the Chilean population to assess the degree of suffering produced by a traumatic event.