NCJ Number
223037
Journal
Journal of Child Sexual Abuse Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: 2008 Pages: 38-50
Date Published
2008
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This study examined the convergent validity of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC).
Abstract
Results supported the convergent validity of the TSCYC Scales of Anger, Sexual Concerns, Anxious, and Depressed when compared to the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). When compared to its companion self-report measure, the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC), there was modest convergent validity of the TSCYC for the Anger, Anxious, Depressed, and Dissociative Scales. However, while statistically significant, the correlations accounted for a small amount of the variance. The lack of relationship between the TSCC and TSCYC Post-traumatic stress factors may highlight the lack of agreement between child and parent reports. This finding may illustrate the need for a multi-informant approach when working with children rather than pointing to some psychometric weakness of the TSCYC. For now, the TSCYC has great promise as part of a multi-informant package of screening and assessment in the identification of treatment needs of children who are sexually abused. By including parents in the assessment process, not only might the accuracy of the child’s functioning be supplemented, but this type of input and engagement may lead to positive involvement of parents in the treatment of their children. Data were collected from 172 consecutive child clients, ages 2 to 17, who received treatment services in an outpatient setting. The setting was a child advocacy center on the campus of a State university. Referrals for treatment were accepted from physicians, child protective services, and parents; only children with a substantiated history of child sexual abuse were accepted for treatment. Tables, references