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Qualified monitoring context

Use the official English PCL-5 Standard only after Criterion A exposure has been established separately. Keep one index event and the past-month frame consistent across all 20 items; use the result to monitor and review reported symptom patterns, never as a stand-alone diagnosis or safety clearance.

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This changes only the presentation order of the answer ledger; it never changes scoring.
Score contribution is optional scoring detail for informed review, not a separate diagnosis or recommendation.
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Keep the same separately established index event in mind and use the past-month frame for every item. Choose how much each problem bothered you.

Safety and support
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What this means

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Score chart
Answer review
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL-5) Assessment Complete the 20-item past-month PCL-5, see the 0 to 80 total and DSM-5 cluster counts, and review screening cut points with safety context.
Primary Care PTSD Screen (PC-PTSD-5) Check a lifetime trauma gate and five past-month PTSD symptoms, then see how the 0–5 PC-PTSD-5 score compares with 3+ and 4+ cut points.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) Assessment Score the GAD-7 for the last two weeks and compare anxiety symptom severity with the separate impact on work, home tasks, and relationships.
Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) Assessment Score the nine PHQ-9 symptoms, keep functional impact separate, and flag any Item 9 response for direct follow-up regardless of the total.

Trauma-related symptoms can appear as unwanted memories, avoidance, changes in mood or beliefs, and heightened alertness. Their pattern and effect on daily life matter as much as any single symptom. A structured review helps a clinician monitor change or decide what needs closer assessment.

The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) is a 20-item self-report measure of how much post-traumatic stress symptoms have bothered an adult during the past month. This Standard form does not establish the qualifying trauma exposure known as DSM-5 Criterion A, so that history must be assessed separately and the same index event should frame every response.

Cluster Symptoms covered Items
Intrusion (B)Unwanted memories, dreams, flashback-like reactions, distress, and physical reactions5
Avoidance (C)Avoiding internal reminders and external reminders2
Negative mood/cognition (D)Changes in memory, beliefs, blame, emotions, interest, connection, and positive feelings7
Arousal/reactivity (E)Irritability, risk taking, vigilance, startle, concentration, and sleep6

The PCL-5 can support symptom monitoring and screening, but it cannot confirm or rule out PTSD on its own. The commonly used 31–33 cut-point range changes the balance between detecting possible cases and avoiding false positives. Population, setting, assessment purpose, functional impact, and a clinician’s judgment remain essential.

This measure is intended for qualified health-professional or research use. A structured clinical interview such as CAPS-5 remains the diagnostic standard. The checklist also does not provide a complete assessment of immediate danger or suicide risk; urgent safety concerns need direct, immediate evaluation.

How to Use This Tool:

Use the official English Standard past-month form only after Criterion A exposure has been established separately.

  1. Choose one index event and keep it in mind for all 20 questions.
  2. Rate how much each problem bothered you during the past month, from Not at all to Extremely. Use Previous or the item navigator to revisit an answer.
  3. Finish when every question has a response. Review the Recorded total, the provisional cluster count, and the four cluster sums together.
  4. Use Edit answers only to correct the response record, then select Done reviewing. Answer-review order and optional score contributions do not change the score.

Interpreting Results:

The total ranges from 0 to 80. Higher totals reflect greater self-reported symptom severity during the past month, not a diagnosis or a set of empirically defined severity levels.

Recorded total How to read it
0–30Below the commonly used 31–33 screening range; meaningful symptoms can still warrant review.
31–32Within the lower part of the screening range; arrange qualified follow-up in the full clinical context.
33–80At or above the more stringent end of the screening range; this still does not establish PTSD.

The cluster chart converts each cluster sum to a percentage of that cluster’s possible maximum so clusters with different item counts can be compared. Those percentages are not diagnostic severity bands. Review the answers, functioning, trauma history, and assessment purpose before acting on the profile.

Technical Details:

Every PCL-5 item contributes its recorded response code directly. The response scale runs from 0 for Not at all through 4 for Extremely; there are no reverse-scored items. Scoring requires all 20 responses.

Formula Core:

The total symptom-severity score is the sum of all 20 item responses.

T = ∑i=120 ri , 0≤ri≤4

The same addition is applied within each cluster. Intrusion spans 0–20 points, Avoidance 0–8, Negative mood/cognition 0–28, and Arousal/reactivity 0–24. Displayed scores are whole points with no rounding.

Rule Core:

A response of 2, Moderately, or higher counts as an endorsed symptom for the provisional DSM-5 cluster rule. All four requirements must be met:

Cluster Items Required at 2 or higher
Intrusion (B)1–5At least 1
Avoidance (C)6–7At least 1
Negative mood/cognition (D)8–14At least 2
Arousal/reactivity (E)15–20At least 2

The cluster-count result and the 31–33 total-score range are provisional screening context. Neither is sufficient without Criterion A evidence and qualified clinical interpretation. A high response of 3 or 4 to item 16, about risk-taking or potentially harmful behavior, triggers a support notice independently of the total score.

Safety, Privacy, and Limits:

A low total cannot clear someone of immediate danger, suicide risk, or risk to others. A high total cannot establish PTSD. If anyone may be in immediate danger, contact local emergency services now; otherwise arrange qualified follow-up when symptoms, functioning, or safety concerns warrant it.

  • Daily simple interest, medication effects, other diagnoses, trauma history, and functional impairment are outside the score itself.
  • The active response set stays in browser memory. An explicitly copied share link contains all 20 raw responses in an encoded URL fragment that is not encrypted or access controlled.
  • Starting over clears the in-memory response session and removes the shared fragment.

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