Citation

Makhubela M. Child Abuse Negl. 2019; 98: e104241.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Johannesburg, C-Ring 422, Kingsway Campus, Auckland Park, Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: mmakhubela@uj.ac.za.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104241

PMID

31704542

Abstract

BACKGROUND: While assessment measures of trauma-related symptoms in children exist, few of them are at once brief, self-reports, normed, comprehensive (i.e., cover both general and trauma-specific symptoms), and thus suitable for poorly resourced clinical contexts.

OBJECTIVE: This study validated the short form of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC-SF) in a sample of children and adolescents. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTINGS: Participants were school-age children and adolescents (N = 270; M_age = 12.55 yrs., SD = 1.19; 67% = Female) exposed to different types of abuse (i.e., sexual, physical, emotional and neglect) receiving counselling at a non-governmental organisation.

METHODS: The TSCC-SF's factor structure and Differential Item Functioning (DIF) across sexes were examined using confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis.

RESULTS: Results revealed a satisfactory construct validity of the scale, while internal consistency was also adequate. No DIF was found across the sexes.

CONCLUSIONS: The TSCC-SF appears to be a viable option for use with children exposed to different types of abuse, particularly in low resource clinical contexts.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Abuse-related symptoms; Child abuse; Self-report; Short form; Trauma