Simulated General Population PCL-5 Data

A dataset containing simulated responses from 1,200 individuals in a general population sample on the PCL-5 (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5). Each individual rated 20 PTSD symptoms on a scale from 0 to 4. This dataset has a lower PTSD prevalence (~21 simulated_ptsd (~94 validation of diagnostic criteria derived from clinical samples. Like simulated_ptsd, it ships with three demographic columns (patient_id, age, sex). It also ships paired clinician-administered CAPS-5 severity ratings (C1–C20) for the same participants, simulated to correlate with the PCL-5 items so that the PCL-5 and CAPS-5 total scores correlate about 0.8 (the level usually reported empirically). This supports the paired-instrument workflow in the CAPS-5 vignette without inventing data inline.

Usage

simulated_ptsd_genpop

Format

A data frame with 1,200 rows and 43 columns:

patient_id: Character. Synthetic participant identifier ("G0001"–"G1200").
age: Integer. Age in years (truncated normal, range 18–80).
sex: Factor. "female" / "male".
S1: PCL-5: Intrusive memories
S2: PCL-5: Nightmares
S3: PCL-5: Flashbacks
S4: PCL-5: Emotional reactivity to reminders
S5: PCL-5: Physical reactions to reminders
S6: PCL-5: Avoiding memories/thoughts/feelings
S7: PCL-5: Avoiding external reminders
S8: PCL-5: Amnesia
S9: PCL-5: Strong negative beliefs
S10: PCL-5: Distorted blame
S11: PCL-5: Negative trauma-related emotions
S12: PCL-5: Decreased interest in activities
S13: PCL-5: Detachment or estrangement
S14: PCL-5: Trouble experiencing positive emotions
S15: PCL-5: Irritability/aggression
S16: PCL-5: Risk-taking behavior
S17: PCL-5: Hypervigilance
S18: PCL-5: Heightened startle reaction
S19: PCL-5: Difficulty concentrating
S20: PCL-5: Sleep problems
C1: CAPS-5: Intrusive memories
C2: CAPS-5: Nightmares
C3: CAPS-5: Flashbacks
C4: CAPS-5: Emotional reactivity to reminders
C5: CAPS-5: Physical reactions to reminders
C6: CAPS-5: Avoiding memories/thoughts/feelings
C7: CAPS-5: Avoiding external reminders
C8: CAPS-5: Amnesia
C9: CAPS-5: Strong negative beliefs
C10: CAPS-5: Distorted blame
C11: CAPS-5: Negative trauma-related emotions
C12: CAPS-5: Decreased interest in activities
C13: CAPS-5: Detachment or estrangement
C14: CAPS-5: Trouble experiencing positive emotions
C15: CAPS-5: Irritability/aggression
C16: CAPS-5: Risk-taking behavior
C17: CAPS-5: Hypervigilance
C18: CAPS-5: Heightened startle reaction
C19: CAPS-5: Difficulty concentrating
C20: CAPS-5: Sleep problems

The CAPS-5 items (C1–C20) are paired clinician-administered severity ratings for the same participants and the same symptoms as the PCL-5 items, simulated to correlate with them at a total-score r of about 0.8.

Source

Simulated data for demonstration purposes

Details

The symptoms are rated on a 5-point scale:

0 = Not at all
1 = A little bit
2 = Moderately
3 = Quite a bit
4 = Extremely

The symptoms correspond to DSM-5 PTSD criteria:

Symptoms 1-5: Criterion B (Intrusion)
Symptoms 6-7: Criterion C (Avoidance)
Symptoms 8-14: Criterion D (Negative alterations in cognitions and mood)
Symptoms 15-20: Criterion E (Alterations in arousal and reactivity)

The data was simulated as a mixture of approximately 17% individuals with elevated symptom profiles (PTSD-like) and 83% with low symptom levels, resulting in approximately 21% meeting full DSM-5 diagnostic criteria.

Note

Symptoms were simulated independently. Real PCL-5 data exhibits within-cluster correlations (e.g., between intrusion symptoms). Optimization results on these data are for illustration only; real-world performance should be evaluated on empirical datasets.

Usage

Format

Source

Details

Note

See also