Late-onset stress symptomatology (LOSS) scale – short form: development and validation

Abstract

Objectives: Late-onset stress symptomatology (LOSS) is a phenomenon observed in older combat veterans who experience increased combat-related thoughts, feelings, and reminiscences corresponding with the changes and challenges of aging. Previously, we developed the LOSS Scale to assess LOSS. This paper describes the development and validation of a LOSS Scale short form (LOSS-SF) to screen veterans in various settings who may be actively re-examining their past wartime experiences.

Method: Three studies examined the reliability and validity of the LOSS-SF in separate samples of male combat veterans age 55 and older (total N = 346). Veterans were administered measures via telephone and mail survey. Correlation and regression analyses examined the reliability and validity of the LOSS-SF.

Results: The LOSS-SF exhibited strong internal consistency (alpha = .93), test-retest reliability (2 week interval on average; r = .88), and good concurrent validity with the LOSS Scale (r = .81). Convergent and divergent validity were supported by the pattern of correlations between the LOSS-SF and other construct measures.

Conclusion: The LOSS-SF is a reliable and valid measure to quickly assess thoughts, feelings, and reminiscences about past combat experiences in older veterans and identify those veterans in distress who may benefit from psychological interventions..

Keywords:

• Aging male combat veterans
• war experiences
• re-engagement
• reliability
• validity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official viewpoint of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The authors express appreciation for the contributions of their colleagues in the Stress, Health, and Aging Research Program (SHARP)

Additional information

Funding

This work supported in part by funding from NIA grant R24-AG039343 (Avron Spiro & Carolyn Aldwin Co-PIs) and in part by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Rehabilitation Research and Development Service – Award number IK2 RX001832-01A2, Anica Pless Kaiser, National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development Service – Award number BX002466, Neil W. Kowall, PI. Avron Spiro was supported by a Senior Research Career Scientist award from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Clinical Science R&D Service..