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Vogt DS (National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System), Scheiderer EM
(National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System), De Blank GB
(National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System), King DW
(National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System), King LA
(National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System), Knight JA
(National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System), Resick PA
(National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System), Vasterling JJ
(National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System)
Objectives:
The Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory (DRRI) is a widely used suite of scales that can be used to assess psychosocial factors that put veterans at risk for health problems following deployment. Although evidence for the reliability and validity of DRRI scales based on Gulf War I veterans is encouraging (King et al, 2006), it is unclear whether the scales adequately capture deployment factors that are relevant for other veteran cohorts.
The aim of this project was to update the DRRI to make it more broadly applicable for past, present, and future veteran cohorts. The primary objective was to examine the content coverage of existing DRRI scales, to identify additional risk and resilience factors, and to use this information to elaborate existing scales and develop new scales as needed. A secondary objective was to update existing DRRI items for enhanced clarity and relevance.
Methods:
A multi-stage iterative item development process was applied. Information derived from focus groups and cognitive interviews with OEF/OIF veterans, along with an extensive literature review and item review by content and item development experts, was used to modify existing DRRI items and to develop several additional scales to address newly identified constructs.
Results:
Major revisions included an expanded assessment of combat-related stressors and factors related to family functioning across deployment. Six new scales were created to address previously unmeasured factors. Among existing DRRI scales, items within 13 of the original 14 factors were revised to enhance relevance across cohorts and improve readability. An average of 34% of items was revised within each scale.
Implications:
The multi-stage iterative item development process that informed this project resulted in a number of changes to the DRRI. In the next phase of development work, updated scales will be administered to a national sample of OEF/OIF veterans, and the psychometric properties of these scales will be examined.
Impacts:
The long-term goal of this project is to provide a suite of scales that is optimally useful to assess factors that increase risk for PTSD and other health problems among military personnel who experience deployment.
