This measure was intended to be clinician-administered, and only administered by those clinicians with prior experience, training, and knowledge of PTSD.
The DSM is currently in its fifth edition (DSM-5, May 2013) and serves as a guide to clinicians in diagnosing mental disorders.
[6] However, the DSM system of psychiatric classifications is problematic in typecasting many relatively normal behavioral issues as "abnormal" (e.g., such as the over-classification of ADHD), promoting and entrenching archaic stereotypical psychiatric nosology, and in reifying subjective suppositions about psychopathology.
The CAPS is currently the gold-standard assessment for PTSD and is used widely through the VA for compensation and pension determinations.
[10] The National Center for PTSD provides information for clinicians to learn how to administer and score the CAPS.
They recommend that, in addition to training, the CAPS be administered by clinicians familiar with PTSD.
Sample Question: "In the past month, have you had any unwanted memories of (EVENT) while you were awake, so not counting dreams?
[13] It is not possible to interpret test-retest reliability coefficients in the absence of knowing the retest time interval.