Journal List > J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc > v.54(1) > 1017787

Won, Lee, Hong, Jun, Han, Shin, Ahn, and Lee: A Study on Reliability and Validity of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised-North Korea (IES-R-NK)

Abstract

Objectives

This study was conducted to translate the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) into North Korean language and confirm its reliability and validity.

Methods

A total of 207 North Korean defectors recruited from the Call Center for North Korean Defectors participated in this study. Psychiatrists and psychiatric residents interviewed the participants individually and made psychiatric diagnosis. Subsequently, they completed the Brief Psychological State Inventory for North Korean Refugees (BPSI-NKR), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-North Korea (CES-D-NK), and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-North Korea (AUDIT-NK) as well as the Impact of Event Scale-Revised-North Korea (IES-R-NK). Of the original participants, 143 subjects participated in test-retest reliability study after one week.

Results

The internal consistency using Cronbach's α was superior in both male and female from North Korea. In addition, the temporal stability was also satisfactory. A good convergent validity was clearly shown by significant correlations with BPSI-PTSD and CES-D-NK, respectively. On the other hand, IES-R-NK had no or weak correlations with AUDIT-NK and BPSI-NKR-alcohol, demonstrating its satisfactory discriminant validity.

Conclusion

IES-R-NK might be considered as a short and valid screening tool for identification of PTSD symptoms in North Korean defectors.

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of study subjects (n=207)

jkna-54-97-i001

*: Independent t-test, : Chi-square test. IES-R-NK : Impact of Event Scale-Revised-North Korea, ns : Non-significant

Table 2

Item-total correlation and test-retest reliability of the IES-R-NK items (n=207)

jkna-54-97-i002

IES-R-NK : Impact of Event Scale-Revised-North Korea

Table 3

Correlations of total scores of each scale with total score of the IES-R-NK (n=207)

jkna-54-97-i003

*: p<0.05, **: p<0.01. AUDIT-NK : Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-North Korea, BPSI-NKR : Brief Psychological State Inventory for North Korean Refugees, CES-D-NK : Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-North Korea, IES-R-NK : Impact of Event Scale-Revised-North Korea, PTSD : posttraumatic stress disorder

Notes

The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

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