TPC Journal V7, Issue 4 - FULL ISSUE

336 The Professional Counselor | Volume 7, Issue 4 therefore used as part of the structural equation modeling (SEM) procedure. Reliability analysis of the 35 items for the Liberian sample demonstrated high internal consistency (α = .90). LOT-R. The LOT-R is a 10-item scale that evaluates dispositional optimism. The instrument has four fillers (items 2, 5, 6, and 8), thereby leaving only six items to be used for analysis. Three items are reverse coded (items 3, 7, and 9) before undertaking any analysis. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 0 (strongly disagree) to 4 (strongly agree). Sample items include “In uncertain times, I usually expect the best” and “If something can go wrong for me, it will.” The LOT-R has acceptable internal consistency (α = .78), test-retest reliability (α = .60–.79), and discriminant ( r = .48–.50) and convergent ( r = .95) validity (Scheier et al., 1994). Reliability of the 6-item scale in the Liberian sample was modest (α = .49). RCI-10. The RCI-10 measures the degree to which a person stands up for his or her religious values. The 10-item scale is measured on a 5-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (not at all true of me) to 5 (totally true of me). The RCI-10 has two factors—intrapersonal and interpersonal religious commitment. The intrapersonal religious commitment assesses an equivalent of personal commitment not related to the social component of religious faith. Interpersonal, on the other hand, measures the social component associated with organized religious faith. Sample items include “Religious beliefs influence all my dealings in life” and “I spend time trying to grow in understanding of my faith.” A cut-off score of 38 and above is needed to identify a highly religious person. Evidence indicates that people who score more than one standard deviation above the mean view the world in terms of their religious worldview (Worthington et al., 2003). Evidence of reliability for the norm groups was high, and both construct and criterion-related validity were similarly high (Worthington et al., 2003). Internal consistency for the Liberian sample in this study was acceptable (α = .84). PCL-5. The PCL-5 measures distress symptoms after a traumatic experience. The 20-item instrument is ranked on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely). The scale comprises four subscales, consistent with the DSM-5 PTSD Clusters B, C, D, and E. The subscales and sample questions are: Cluster B, or Intrusion (e.g., repeated, disturbing, and unwanted memories of the experience); Cluster C, or Avoidance (e.g., avoid memories, thoughts, or feelings related to the experience); Cluster D, or Negative Alterations in Cognition and Mood (e.g., having strong negative feelings such as fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame); and Cluster E, or Alterations in Arousal and Reactivity (e.g., taking too many risks or doing things that could cause you harm). Psychometric properties for the instrument demonstrated high internal consistency (α = .91), two-week test-retest reliability (α = .95), and convergent validity ( r = .87; Wortmann et al., 2016). Results of reliability analysis for the Liberian sample demonstrated a high internal consistency (α = .92). Data Analysis Data were analyzed with three programs. SPSS (version 24; IBM, 2016) was used for descriptive statistics to understand participants’ demographics. SPSS was used to assess reliability of instruments and to answer the first research question. Finally, SPSS was used to extract the correlation matrix that was the foundation of both the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and SEM. SAS (SAS Institute, 2015) and AMOS (version 23; Arbuckle, 2014) were used for both the CFA and SEM. The Hypothesized Model Figure 1 represents the hypothesized model based on hypotheses extracted from the literature. It is hypothesized that all participants experienced the 10-year civil war. It is hypothesized that between 10–50% of participants will meet the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. It is also hypothesized that