--- title: "PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5): Score" url: "https://www.ellomind.com/ai-tools-for-psychologists/scales/pcl-5-ptsd/" description: "PCL-5 (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5) scoring reference for clinicians: administer the 20 items, with the cut-off, DSM-5 cluster rule and a ready-made AI prompt." --- PTSD # PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) Self-report · 20 items · 5–10 min Administer and score the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the most widely used self-report measure of PTSD symptoms. All 20 items are shown in full, with the cut-off, the DSM-5 symptom-cluster rule, and an AI prompt to score de-identified responses. Copy prompt Download as .md **De-identify first.** The prompt runs in your own AI assistant. Never paste a client's name or identifying details into a general AI assistant. ## What it measures The PCL-5 is a 20-item self-report measure that maps directly onto the 20 DSM-5 symptoms of PTSD. It is used to screen for probable PTSD, to aid provisional diagnosis, and to monitor symptom change during and after treatment. It asks the person to rate each problem while keeping their worst traumatic event in mind. Developed by the U.S. National Center for PTSD, it is not copyrighted and is free to use. It is a screening and severity tool, not a diagnosis: a clinician confirms PTSD against the full DSM-5 criteria, including exposure (Criterion A) and functional impact. ## The PCL-5 items Keeping your worst event in mind, in the past month, how much were you bothered by: 1. Repeated, disturbing, and unwanted memories of the stressful experience? 2. Repeated, disturbing dreams of the stressful experience? 3. Suddenly feeling or acting as if the stressful experience were actually happening again (as if you were actually back there reliving it)? 4. Feeling very upset when something reminded you of the stressful experience? 5. Having strong physical reactions when something reminded you of the stressful experience (e.g., heart pounding, trouble breathing, sweating)? 6. Avoiding memories, thoughts, or feelings related to the stressful experience? 7. Avoiding external reminders of the stressful experience (e.g., people, places, conversations, activities, objects, or situations)? 8. Trouble remembering important parts of the stressful experience? 9. Having strong negative beliefs about yourself, other people, or the world (e.g., having thoughts such as: I am bad, there is something seriously wrong with me, no one can be trusted, the world is completely dangerous)? 10. Blaming yourself or someone else for the stressful experience or what happened after it? 11. Having strong negative feelings such as fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame? 12. Loss of interest in activities that you used to enjoy? 13. Feeling distant or cut off from other people? 14. Trouble experiencing positive feelings (e.g., being unable to feel happiness or have loving feelings for people close to you)? 15. Irritable behavior, angry outbursts, or acting aggressively? 16. Taking too many risks or doing things that could cause you harm? 17. Being “super-alert” or watchful or on guard? 18. Feeling jumpy or easily startled? 19. Having difficulty concentrating? 20. Trouble falling or staying asleep? **Response options:** 0 Not at all (0), 1 A little bit (1), 2 Moderately (2), 3 Quite a bit (3), 4 Extremely (4). ## Scoring and interpretation The person rates each of the 20 items from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely) for the past month, keeping their worst event in mind. The items are summed for a total symptom severity score from 0 to 80. A total of 31 to 33 is the commonly cited cut-off for probable PTSD. For provisional diagnosis, treat an item as endorsed when it is rated 2 (moderately) or higher, then require at least 1 item from cluster B (Q1-5), 1 from cluster C (Q6-7), 2 from cluster D (Q8-14), and 2 from cluster E (Q15-20), alongside DSM-5 Criterion A. A 5-point change is considered reliable and a 10-point change clinically meaningful. | Score | Interpretation | | ----- | --------------------------------------- | | 0–30 | Below the PTSD cut-off | | 31–80 | At or above the cut-off (probable PTSD) | A total of 31 to 33 suggests probable PTSD. Formal severity bands (mild/moderate/severe) are not established for the PCL-5\. A provisional DSM-5 diagnosis also needs Criterion A plus at least 1 cluster B item (Q1-5), 1 C (Q6-7), 2 D (Q8-14) and 2 E (Q15-20), each rated 2 or higher. ## Score it with AI A ready-made prompt that turns any AI assistant into a scorer for the PCL-5\. Paste it in, add the client's de-identified responses, and it computes the score and interpretation. Copy it, or download it to save as a reusable prompt. 1. 1 Copy the prompt below, or download it as a file. 2. 2 Open your AI assistant (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or any LLM). 3. 3 Paste the prompt, then add the client's de-identified responses. 4. 4 Review the score and interpretation before you use them. You are a careful scoring assistant for the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), helping a qualified professional. You are a scoring aid, not a clinician: you do not diagnose or recommend treatment. Ground rules: - Use ONLY the items, response options and cut-offs given below as the source of truth. Do not rely on any version of this scale from memory; scales have variants and remembered items, scoring or cut-offs may be wrong. - If anything I paste could identify a client, stop and ask me to de-identify it before scoring. - Never guess, impute, average, or fill in a missing or unclear response. Scale: self-report measure, 20 items. Each item is scored: 0 = 0 Not at all; 1 = 1 A little bit; 2 = 2 Moderately; 3 = 3 Quite a bit; 4 = 4 Extremely. Items: 1. Repeated, disturbing, and unwanted memories of the stressful experience? 2. Repeated, disturbing dreams of the stressful experience? 3. Suddenly feeling or acting as if the stressful experience were actually happening again (as if you were actually back there reliving it)? 4. Feeling very upset when something reminded you of the stressful experience? 5. Having strong physical reactions when something reminded you of the stressful experience (e.g., heart pounding, trouble breathing, sweating)? 6. Avoiding memories, thoughts, or feelings related to the stressful experience? 7. Avoiding external reminders of the stressful experience (e.g., people, places, conversations, activities, objects, or situations)? 8. Trouble remembering important parts of the stressful experience? 9. Having strong negative beliefs about yourself, other people, or the world (e.g., having thoughts such as: I am bad, there is something seriously wrong with me, no one can be trusted, the world is completely dangerous)? 10. Blaming yourself or someone else for the stressful experience or what happened after it? 11. Having strong negative feelings such as fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame? 12. Loss of interest in activities that you used to enjoy? 13. Feeling distant or cut off from other people? 14. Trouble experiencing positive feelings (e.g., being unable to feel happiness or have loving feelings for people close to you)? 15. Irritable behavior, angry outbursts, or acting aggressively? 16. Taking too many risks or doing things that could cause you harm? 17. Being “super-alert” or watchful or on guard? 18. Feeling jumpy or easily startled? 19. Having difficulty concentrating? 20. Trouble falling or staying asleep? Interpretation (ranges are inclusive; work out from these bands whether a higher score means more or less of the construct): - Total 0 to 80: 0–30 Below the PTSD cut-off; 31–80 At or above the cut-off (probable PTSD). When I give the client's de-identified responses, work in this order: 1. Parse them as item → value and restate the table so I can check it. If I give option labels, the client's words, or a finer scale than the options above, map each to the listed values and show the mapping. 2. Validate before scoring: confirm there are exactly 20 responses, each within its allowed range. If any are missing, extra, duplicated, out of range, or ambiguous, STOP and tell me what is wrong. Do not score a partial or invalid set. 3. Show your work: list the value used for each item (after any reverse-scoring), then add them explicitly. Add them to reach the total. Use only the numbers above. 4. Report, in this order: - the total score; - the severity band, quoting the exact range it falls in; - one or two sentences on what the score means on this scale; - this caveat: A total of 31 to 33 suggests probable PTSD. Formal severity bands (mild/moderate/severe) are not established for the PCL-5. A provisional DSM-5 diagnosis also needs Criterion A plus at least 1 cluster B item (Q1-5), 1 C (Q6-7), 2 D (Q8-14) and 2 E (Q15-20), each rated 2 or higher. - a reminder that the PCL-5 is a screening or rating aid, not a diagnosis, to be read within a full clinical assessment. 5. Re-check the arithmetic before finalising, and do not add a diagnosis, formulation or treatment plan unless I ask separately. Here are the de-identified responses: Copy prompt Download as .md Before you rely on the score * **Check the maths yourself.** AI assistants can still add up wrong or misapply a rule. The prompt makes the assistant show each item's value and the sum, so glance over that working, and re-total anything you will act on. * **Confirm it used this scale.** Check that the items, response values, reverse-scoring and cut-offs it used match this page, not a different or outdated version the model recalled. * **Watch for missing or odd inputs.** The prompt is told to stop rather than guess a missing or out-of-range response. If it scores anyway, treat the result as unreliable and re-check your inputs. * **Act on critical items regardless of the total.** Respond to risk indicators, such as a self-harm item, on their own merit, even when the overall score looks low. * **De-identify first, every time.** The assistant runs in your own account, outside ElloMind. Never enter a client's name or identifying details. * **It is a screening aid, not the decision.** The score supports your clinical judgement within a full assessment. It does not diagnose, and it does not decide. ## Use the score in your notes Take the score into a de-identified write-up with one of the free AI tools. [Formulation Case formulation (5Ps and CBT)](/ai-tools-for-psychologists/case-formulation/) [Treatment planning Treatment plan (SMART goals)](/ai-tools-for-psychologists/treatment-plan/) ## Citation and sources Weathers, F.W., Litz, B.T., Keane, T.M., Palmieri, P.A., Marx, B.P., & Schnurr, P.P. (2013). The PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). National Center for PTSD, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The PCL-5 was developed by U.S. government employees and is not copyrighted. It is free to use. It is intended for use by qualified professionals alongside clinical judgment. * [PCL-5 at the National Center for PTSD](https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/assessment/adult-sr/ptsd-checklist.asp) — U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ## Frequently asked questions What is the PCL-5 cut-off for PTSD? + A total score of 31 to 33 is the commonly cited cut-off suggesting probable PTSD. It is a screen, not a diagnosis; confirm against the full DSM-5 criteria. How is the PCL-5 scored? + Each of the 20 items is rated 0 to 4 and summed for a total from 0 to 80\. For provisional diagnosis, an item counts as a symptom when rated 2 or higher. What is a clinically meaningful change on the PCL-5? + A 5-point change is considered reliable (not due to chance) and a 10-point change clinically meaningful when tracking response to treatment. Is the PCL-5 free to use? + Yes. The PCL-5 was created by U.S. government employees and is in the public domain, free for clinical and research use by qualified professionals. Does ElloMind see the client's data? + No. The AI prompt runs in your own assistant and ElloMind never sees it. De-identify client information first. ## More scales [Depression Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)](/ai-tools-for-psychologists/scales/phq-9-depression-scale/) [Anxiety Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)](/ai-tools-for-psychologists/scales/gad-7-anxiety-scale/) [Depression · Anxiety · Stress Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21)](/ai-tools-for-psychologists/scales/dass-21/) [Depression Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D)](/ai-tools-for-psychologists/scales/hamilton-depression-rating-scale/) A screening and rating aid for qualified professionals, not a diagnosis or a substitute for clinical judgement. Interpret every score within a full assessment. Never paste identifiable client data into a general AI assistant. If a client is in crisis, contact a [crisis helpline](/crisis-helpline/) right away. [Back to all scales](/ai-tools-for-psychologists/scales/)