Assessing the underlying dimensionality of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms in Chinese adolescents surviving the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

• A seven-factor model fit significantly better than other alternative DSM-5 PTSD models.
• The MDD factor correlated with PTSD's negative affect and anhedonia factors equally.
• The PD factor correlated more strongly with PTSD's negative affect factor than with the anhedonia factor.
• The MDD factor correlated more strongly with PTSD's dysphoric arousal factor than with the anxious arousal factor.
• The PD factor correlated with PTSD's dysphoric arousal and anxious arousal factors equally.

By analyzing data yielded from a sample of Chinese adolescents surviving a high-intensity earthquake, this study investigated the underlying dimensionality of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms. The sample included 743 traumatized middle school students (396 females and 332 males) aged 11–17 years (mean = 13.6, SD = 1.0). Results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that an intercorrelated seven-factor model comprised of intrusion, avoidance, negative affect, anhedonia, externalizing behaviors, anxious arousal, and dysphoric arousal factors provided a significant better representation of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms than other alternative models. Further analyses indicated that external measures of major depression disorder and panic disorder symptoms displayed unique associations with four PTSD factors. The findings provide further support for the newly proposed seven-factor model of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms, add to very limited empirical knowledge on the latent structure of DSM-5 PTSD symptoms among adolescents, and carry implications for further refinement of the current classifications of PTSD symptoms and further clinical practice and research on posttraumatic stress symptomatology.