The Underlying Dimensions of DSM-5 PTSD Symptoms and Their Relations with Anxiety and Depression in a Sample of Adolescents Exposed to an Explosion Accident

ABSTRACTBackground: A large number of empirical studies pertaining to the latent dimensions of DSM-5PTSD symptoms have accumulated. However, there is still a lack of studies specific to youths.Objective: This study sought to investigate the latent dimensions of DSM-5PTSD symptoms in a sample of adolescents exposed to an explosion accident.Method: Participants were 836 students (407 females and 428 males). Self-reported measures including the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5and the anxiety and depression subscales of the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scale were administered to participants. Confirmatory factor analysis(CFA) was implemented to test competing factor models.Results: A seven-factor model composed of intrusion, avoidance, negative affect, anhedonia, externalizing behaviours, anxious arousal and dysphoric arousal factors emerged as the best fitting model, and PTSD’s factors displayed distinguishable correlations with external measures of anxiety and depression.Conclusions: The findings provide a...