The significant others’ responses to trauma scale (SORTS): applying factor analysis and item response theory to a measure of PTSD symptom accommodation

Background: Symptom accommodation by family members (FMs) of individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) includes FMs’ participation in patients’ avoidance/safety behaviours and constraining self-expression to minimise conflict, potentially maintaining patients’ symptoms. The Significant Others’ Responses to Trauma Scale (SORTS) is the only existing measure of accommodation in PTSD but has not been rigorously psychometrically tested. Objective: We aimed to conduct further psychometric analyses to determine the factor structure and overall performance of the SORTS. Method: We conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses using a sample of N = 715 FMs (85.7% female, 62.1% White, 86.7% romantic partners of individuals with elevated PTSD symptoms). Results: After dropping cross-loading items, results indicated good fit for a higher-order model of accommodation with two factors: an anger-related accommodation factor encompassed items related largely to minimising conflict, and an anxiety-related accommodation factor encompassed items related primarily to changes to the FM’s activities. Accommodation was positively related to PTSD severity and negatively related to relationship satisfaction, although the factors showed somewhat distinct associations. Item Response Theory analyses indicated that the scale provided good information and robust coverage of different accommodation levels. Conclusions: SORTS data should be analysed as both a single score as well as two factors to explore the factors’ potential differential performance across treatment and relationship outcomes. We examined the Significant Others’ Responses to Trauma Scale (SORTS), a measure of symptom accommodation in PTSD, among a large sample of family members.As measured by the SORTS, accommodation in PTSD could be broken down into two aspects: anger-related accommodation and anxiety-related accommodation.Accommodation was positively related to PTSD severity and negatively related to relationship satisfaction. We examined the Significant Others’ Responses to Trauma Scale (SORTS), a measure of symptom accommodation in PTSD, among a large sample of family members. As measured by the SORTS, accommodation in PTSD could be broken down into two aspects: anger-related accommodation and anxiety-related accommodation. Accommodation was positively related to PTSD severity and negatively related to relationship satisfaction.

背景：创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）患者家庭成员（FM）对症状的适应包括家庭成员参与患者的回避/安全行为，以及限制自我表达以最小化冲突，这可能导致患者症状的持续。目前，仅存在显著他人对创伤反应量表（SORTS）作为PTSD中适应行为的衡量标准，但该量表尚未经过严格的心理学测量检验。研究目的：本研究旨在进一步进行心理学测量分析，以确定SORTS的因素结构和整体表现。研究方法：我们使用N=715名家庭成员（85.7%为女性，62.1%为白人，86.7%为具有较高PTSD症状个体的浪漫伴侣）的样本，进行了探索性和验证性因素分析。研究结果：在删除交叉负荷项后，结果显示，适应行为的二级模型拟合良好，包含两个因素：一个与愤怒相关的适应因素，包括主要与最小化冲突相关的条目；另一个与焦虑相关的适应因素，包括主要涉及家庭成员活动变化的条目。适应行为与PTSD的严重程度呈正相关，与关系满意度呈负相关，尽管两个因素显示出某些不同的关联。项目反应理论分析表明，该量表提供了良好的信息，并对不同适应水平进行了稳健的覆盖。结论：SORTS数据应作为单一得分以及两个因素进行分析，以探索因素在治疗和关系结果中的潜在差异表现。我们检视了针对创伤的显著他人反应量表（SORTS），该量表用于衡量PTSD中的症状适应行为，并在大量家庭成员样本中进行研究。根据SORTS的测量，PTSD中的适应行为可以分为两个层面：与愤怒相关的适应和与焦虑相关的适应。适应行为与PTSD的严重程度呈正相关，与关系满意度呈负相关。我们检视了针对创伤的显著他人反应量表（SORTS），该量表用于衡量PTSD中的症状适应行为，并在大量家庭成员样本中进行研究。根据SORTS的测量，PTSD中的适应行为可以分为两个层面：与愤怒相关的适应和与焦虑相关的适应。适应行为与PTSD的严重程度呈正相关，与关系满意度呈负相关。