Psychiatry Investig.  2008 Sep;5(3):163-167.

Psychometric Properties of the Life Events Checklist-Korean Version

• Bae H
• Kim D
• Koh H
• Kim Y
• Park JS

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The Life Events Checklist is a brief screening instrument that is used for potentially traumatic events such as accidents, disasters, sexual or physical assaults, or combat-related exposures. The original English version was recently tested for reliability and validity and it showed good psychometric properties, and so its use is recommended for the assessment of trauma.
METHODS
This study investigated the reliability and validity of a Life Events Checklist-Korean version in 157 consecutive psychiatric outpatients at a university-affiliated teaching hospital. The questionnaire also included the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Correlation and principal component analyses were conducted.
RESULTS
The four week test-retest reliability was good and the internal consistency was acceptable. In addition, the number of traumatic events was significantly correlated with the posttraumatic depressive and anxiety symptoms, which demonstrated the convergent validity of the scale. Additionally, exploratory factor analysis identified a six-factor structure that explained 57.2% of the total variance.
CONCLUSION
These findings support the reliability and validity of the Life Events Checklist-Korean version.

Keyword

Life Events Checklist; Reliability; Validity; Trauma; Stressful Events; Factor Analysis

MeSH Terms

Anxiety
Checklist
Depression
Disasters
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Hospitals, Teaching
Humans
Life Change Events
Mass Screening
Outpatients
Principal Component Analysis
Psychometrics*
Surveys and Questionnaires
Reproducibility of Results