Detailed Assessment of Posttraumatic Stress™ (DAPS™)
John Briere, Ph.D.

This detailed and comprehensive 104-item assessment provides a clinical measure of trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress in individuals (ages 18 and over) who have been exposed to one or more potentially traumatic events.  The DAPS assesses peri- and posttraumatic symptoms and associated features related to a specific traumatic event and generates a tentative diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) in considerably less time than is required for a structured diagnostic interview.
 
Unlike other diagnostic measures of PTSD, the DAPS was normed on more than 400 trauma-exposed adults; two validity scales help to identify individuals who over- or underreport psychological symptoms.
 
DAPS highlights and unique benefits:
 
• Measures trauma exposure in detail, as well as the dissociative, cognitive, and emotional responses associated with the trauma
• Provides a detailed and comprehensive assessment of the three PTSD symptom clusters: reexperiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal
• High internal consistency (.88 to .92) and greater content coverage than most PTSD measures
• Includes scales for three associated features of PTSD: dissociation, suicidality, and substance abuse.
 
The DAPS can be self-administered, used with either individuals or groups, and takes approx. 20-30 minutes to administer.