Comparing short-form vs full-length mental health disorder symptom measures among public safety personnel

Mental health disorders are prevalent among public safety personnel (PSP; e.g., correctional workers, firefighters, paramedics, police, public safety communicators) due to frequent exposures to occupational stressors. PSP report having minimal time for research participation and needing efficient screening tools validated for their unique needs. The current study evaluates the validity of short-form mental health disorder questionnaires as alternatives to the full-length versions. Using data from 5838 PSP, the psychometric properties of the 4-item PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, 2-item Patient Health Questionnaire; 2-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale; Brief Panic Disorder Severity Scale-Self Report; and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Concise were assessed. Classification accuracy, internal consistency, and convergent validity were assessed using correlations, Cronbach's alphas, and receiver operating characteristic analyses (e.g., area under the curve [AUC], sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios, Youden Index). The short and full-length versions were highly correlated (rs = 0.93-0.96), with adequate to good internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas.70-0.84). Using previously established cutoff scores, analyses evidenced low to high sensitivity (0.57-0.98) and high specificity (0.78-0.98), evidencing consistent classification of positive screens (AUCs = 0.92-0.99) between the short-form and full-length versions using a sample of PSP. The short-form measures offer an efficient standardized method for PSP to report mental health disorder symptoms, facilitating efficient and early screening.