Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS)
This 19-question assessment measures the level of traumatic memories experienced by mothers.
Following a traumatic birthing experience and before potential interventions, patients are evaluated with a Google Forms-hosted Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS) (Hansen, Armour, Wang, Elklit, & Bryant, 2015) which uses 19-questions to assess intrusions, avoidance, negative mood, and cognition (APA, 2013). It is this assessment that indicates the level of intrusive traumatic memories experienced by others.
My initial population of mothers struggled to understand the questions as they were originally written. I altered the questions to specify birth instead of the general term 'trauma.' Mothers were immediately responsive to the modified questionnaire and understood it more readily.
The original assessment as well as the modified version can be found in the embedded Google Doc below the informational video.
Learn more about the Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS):
References
American Psychiatric Association (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: Author.
Bryant, R., Moulds, M., & Guthrie, R. (2000). Acute Stress Disorder Scale: A self-report measure of Acute Stress DIsorder. Psychological Assessment, 12(1), 61-68. doi:10.1037/1040-3590.12.1.61
Hansen, M., Armour, C., Wang, L., Elklit, A., & Bryant, R. A. (2015). Assessing possible DSM-5 ASD subtypes in a sample of victims meeting caseness for DSM-5 ASD based on self-report following multiple forms of traumatic exposure. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 31, 84e89. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2015.02.005