Construct Validation of the Dutch Version of the Impact of Event Scale

Abstract

The Impact of Event Scale (IES; M. J. Horowitz, N. Wilner, & W. Alvarez, 1979) is a worldwide-usedself-report measure to assess the frequency of intrusive and avoidant phenomena after a variety oftraumatic experiences. The purpose of this article is to assess the psychometric value of the Dutch versionof the IES (D. Brom & R. J. Kleber, 1985) in several samples of individuals who had experienced varioustraumatic stressors. The reliability and structure of the IES were evaluated in 3 different samples (totalN 1,588). The reliability of the Dutch version of the IES was adequate across the various stressors. Theconstruct validity was assessed by using confirmatory factor analyses. Outcomes revealed a robuststructure over the various samples, generally supporting the composition of the original IES.