The BSI provides 3 populations against
which to standardize: psychiatric outpatients,psychiatric inpatients, and nonpatients. We
selected the psychiatric outpatient population
as the referent group because (1) the psychological
symptoms reported among trafficked
women have been found to be present at levels
well above those found among a ‘‘general’’
population,27 and (2) participants in the current
study had received or were receiving various
physical or psychological health interventions
from the assistance centers, suggesting a similarity
to a ‘‘patient’’ population.We used a raw score
cutpoint of 1.87 or higher to define high levels
of depression symptoms, and we used a raw
score cutpoint of 1.71 or higher to define high
levels of anxiety symptoms. These cutpoints are
equal to or greater than the 50th percentile of
scores for a referent group of female psychiatric
outpatients.4,20
Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. We used
the PTSD subscale of the HTQ to assess
participants presenting with symptoms of
PTSD. The HTQ includes 16 items that are
based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised,
and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.28 A mean
score of 2.0 or higher was considered indicative
of probable PTSD symptoms, in accordance
with guidelines presented in the HTQ user
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