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Use the official English PCL-5 Standard only after Criterion A exposure has been established separately. Keep the past-month frame and use the result for qualified screening, monitoring, or provisional assessment—not as a stand-alone diagnosis or safety clearance.

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Keep your worst event in mind and use the same past-month frame for every item. Choose how much each problem bothered you.

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After a traumatic event, distress can appear as unwanted memories, avoidance, changes in mood or beliefs, and a body that stays on alert. Those reactions may overlap, rise and fall at different rates, and affect sleep, relationships, concentration, or daily routines. A structured symptom checklist helps preserve that pattern more reliably than a general impression.

The Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) records how much each of 20 symptoms has bothered a person during the past month. Its four groups follow the DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder symptom clusters: intrusion, avoidance, negative changes in mood and cognition, and changes in arousal or reactivity. The ratings can summarize symptom burden and support follow-up, but they do not establish that a qualifying traumatic exposure occurred or that every diagnostic requirement is met.

Symptom severity
Each item records intensity from Not at all to Extremely. The 20 ratings form a 0 to 80 total.
Symptom distribution
Items rated Moderately or higher can be counted within clusters B, C, D, and E to check the provisional DSM-5 pattern.
Clinical context
Exposure, duration, impairment, other possible causes, current safety, and a qualified interview still matter.

Scores from 31 to 33 are commonly used as screening cut points, but the appropriate boundary depends on the population and purpose. A lower cut point finds more possible cases and also produces more false positives. A higher cut point is more selective and can miss people whose symptoms still need attention. The cluster count adds a second view of the response pattern; neither result is a diagnosis.

PCL-5 is intended for careful clinical or research use, not for employment, insurance, eligibility, or emergency clearance. A high response to the risk-taking item deserves direct follow-up, yet the checklist does not assess suicide risk or immediate danger. Urgent safety concerns should be handled through local emergency or crisis support rather than inferred from the total.

How to Use This Tool:

Complete the standard past-month form in one sitting when possible, then review the total and the cluster pattern as separate screening clues.

  1. Select Begin PCL-5 and answer each item for the past month using the five choices from Not at all to Extremely.
  2. Complete all 20 items. If the result is not available, return to the unanswered item shown by the progress controls.
  3. Read the PCL-5 total first, then compare it with the 31 and 33 screening cut points without treating either boundary as diagnostic.
  4. Review the B, C, D, and E cluster counts. A cluster counts only items rated Moderately or higher, which is different from the cluster severity sums.
  5. Use the answer review to confirm unexpected high contributions. Copy a result link only when the recipient should receive all 20 raw responses as well as the result.

Interpreting Results:

A total below 31 does not rule out clinically important trauma symptoms. A total from 31 to 32 falls within the lower part of the common screening range, while 33 or more reaches its more selective end. Population, setting, impairment, and the purpose of screening can change which cut point is appropriate.

Read the provisional cluster count independently. The total can cross a cut point while one required cluster is missing, or the cluster count can be met with a total below 31. Confirm any consequential result through qualified assessment; a structured clinical interview such as CAPS-5 remains the diagnostic standard.

Technical Details:

PCL-5 scoring preserves the literal 0 to 4 response for every item. There are no reverse-scored items and no empirically defined severity bands in this result. The arithmetic total, cluster severity sums, screening cut points, and provisional cluster count answer different questions.

Formula Core

The total is the sum of all 20 item ratings, so every one-point response change moves the total by exactly one point.

SPCL-5 = ∑i=120 xi , xi ∈ {0,1,2,3,4}

The valid total is 0 to 80 points. Cluster severity sums use the same ratings: items 1 to 5 form B, 6 to 7 form C, 8 to 14 form D, and 15 to 20 form E. All items must be answered; the score is not prorated.

Rule Core

The provisional DSM-5 count converts each rating of 2 or more into an endorsed symptom, then applies the required count within every cluster.

Cluster Items Severity range Provisional count requirement
Intrusion (B)1 to 50 to 20At least 1 item rated 2 or higher
Avoidance (C)6 to 70 to 8At least 1 item rated 2 or higher
Negative mood/cognition (D)8 to 140 to 28At least 2 items rated 2 or higher
Arousal/reactivity (E)15 to 200 to 24At least 2 items rated 2 or higher

The provisional cluster rule is met only when all four rows meet their count requirement. Cluster severity sums do not replace these counts.

TotalDisplayed screening rangeBoundary meaning
0 to 30Below 31 screening rangeDoes not rule out meaningful symptoms
31 to 3231–32 screening rangeMeets the lower common cut point but not 33
33 to 8033+ screening rangeMeets the more selective common cut point

Limitations, Privacy, and Responsible Use:

The PCL-5 measures self-reported symptoms during one recall period. It does not establish Criterion A exposure, duration, impairment, differential diagnosis, immediate safety, or treatment need. Language, setting, memory, current stress, and willingness to disclose can affect responses.

  • A high Item 16 response about risk-taking or possible harm deserves prompt human follow-up, but it is not a suicide-risk assessment.
  • Answers and progress update this page's URL as you work. Anyone with the URL can read and edit the responses; the URL is not encrypted or access-controlled. Opening or reloading it sends the URL to this website and may leave it in browser history or server logs.
  • Starting over clears this attempt and removes its response state from the current URL; it does not erase previously copied links, browser history or server logs.

Worked Examples:

Cut point and cluster count disagree

A total of 31 appears in the 31–32 screening range. If neither avoidance item is rated Moderately or higher, cluster C is not met and the provisional cluster count remains not met. The result still supports qualified review because the cut point and the cluster rule provide complementary screening information rather than competing diagnoses.

References: