POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER CHECKLIST FOR DSM-5 (PCL-5). LATENT STRUCTURE ANALYSIS AND MEASUREMENT INVARIANCE IN A SAMPLE OF ITALIAN HEALTH WORKERS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a significant threat to health workers (HW) in terms of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and disorder (PTSD). Over the years, alternative PTSD structures have been proposed (DSM-5, Dysphoria, Dysphoric Arousal, Anhedonia, Externalizing Behaviors, Hybrid) and tested. To date, no studies have addressed this issue focusing on HW during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study investigated the fit of alternative PTSD structures in two Italian samples: HW during the COVID-19 pandemic, and university students in a pre-pandemic context. A total of 580 HW and 451 students completed the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) assessing PTSS. Confirmatory factor analysis investigated the best PTSD structure in each sample; measurement invariance was also inspected. The Anhedonia structure performed best in both samples; this model showed configural, metric, variances and covariances invariance. Results pave the way to the use of the PCL-5 to tailor intervention supporting HW during the pandemic.