Screening for birth-related PTSD: psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale in postpartum women in Turkey.

: Evidence suggests that 4% of women develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth, with a potentially negative impact on women and families. Detection of postpartum PTSD is essential but few measures have been validated in this population. : This study aimed to examine psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PDS) to screen for birth-related PTSD among postpartum women and identify factorial structure of PTSD after birth. : PDS was administered to 829 postpartum women recruited from three maternity hospitals in Turkey. Participants with PTSD (= 68) and a randomly selected group of women without PTSD (= 66), underwent a structured clinical interview (SCID). : PDS demonstrated high internal consistency (α = .89) and test-retest reliability between 4-6 weeks and 6-months postpartum (= .51). PDS showed high concurrent validity with other measures of postpartum psychopathology, (829) = .60 for depression and (829) = .61 for anxiety. Satisfactory diagnostic agreement was observed between diagnoses obtained by PDS and SCID, with good sensitivity (92%) and specificity (76%). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the latent structure of birth-related PTSD was best identified by a three-factor model: re-experiencing and avoidance (RA), numbing and dysphoric-arousal (NDA) and dysphoric-arousal and anxious-arousal symptoms (DAA). : The findings supported use of PDS as an effective screening measure for birth-related PTSD among postpartum women.