PILOTS Instruments Authority List

To make searching for specific assessment instruments possible, we have established a standard form of the name of each instrument. This form represents, to the best of our knowledge, the official name of the instrument as given by its author or publisher. We attempt to use that form consistently, regardless of the form of name used by the author of a particular paper. These standardized names are assembled in the PILOTS Database Instruments Authority List (PDF-8 MB). This list includes all projective tests, self-report questionnaires, structured interviews, and other instruments that have been used in papers indexed in the PILOTS Database. Each entry includes:

• the name of the instrument;
• the surnames of its creators (this information is intended primarily to indicate which instrument is meant — there are several with similar names — and should not be taken as a definitive ascription of authorship);
• a bibliographic reference to one or more publications cited as the source of information on the instrument by those reporting use of it;
• a bracketed reference to the 5-digit PILOTS ID number of the document referenced or of the document citing it.

In addition, many entries also include a brief description of the nature of the instrument or its relationship to other instruments. There are also many cross-references, linking alternate names for instruments with the form used in the PILOTS database.

(It should be understood that the Authority List does not purport to be a complete bibliography of psychological and medical assessment instruments used in traumatic stress work. We have not attempted to maintain the standards of accuracy and completeness that we hope characterize the PILOTS database itself. The bibliographic citations in the Authority List are taken without revision from a wide range of publications in the traumatic stress literature, and several years of experience has shown us that many writers give deplorably incomplete information about the instruments they use in their work. The PILOTS Database Instruments Authority List represents our best efforts at bringing consistency to a chaotic bibliographical environment without diverting our attention substantially from our primary mission: the indexing of the worldwide traumatic stress literature.)

We would encourage anyone publishing an assessment instrument, a paper about the assessment of trauma or the effects of traumatic stress, or any other literature within the scope of the PILOTS database to send us a copy to ensure that it is indexed in the database. Please send these to: