Abstract This study examines the factor analytic structure of the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) in Malaysia and Taiwan. The exploratory bifactor analytic results suggest that a bifactor model with three subfactors (avoidance, arousal/reactivity, and cognition/mood) provides the best model fit that resemble three of the four symptom clusters of PTSD as described in the DSM-5. The results of the multigroup confirmatory bifactor analysis suggest that model fit did not significantly deteriorate when factor loadings and item intercepts were constrained to be equal across Malaysia and Taiwanese groups. However, because of the identification issues we encountered during the initial steps of the MCFA, these conclusions should be interpreted with a fair amount of caution. Future researchers may consider generating more items that would theoretically map on to the avoidance subfactor to avoid this issue. Consistent with previous bifactor analytic studies, all 20 items appear to have strong standardized loadings on a general factor (labeled general psychological distress in this study) – suggesting that the total score represents a unitary, general construct. Previous multi-method examinations with an older version of the PCL (e.g., PCL-C; Weathers et al., 1993) does set the precedent for using the total score for this measure. Nonetheless, clinicians should still be cautious if they would want to use the total score of the PCL-5 for estimating PTSD symptoms with Malaysian and Taiwanese student populations.