Psychometric Evaluation of the Children's Impact of Traumatic Events Scale-Revised

• NCJ Number: 204335
• Journal: Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 25 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2001 Pages: 401-411
• Author(s): Mark Chaffin; Shelli K. Shultz
• Date Published: March 2001
• Length: 11 pages
• Grant Number(s): 5-R01-MH48784-04; 1R03MH53390-01
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses the psychometric properties of the current version of the Children’s Impact of Traumatic Events Scale-Revised (CITES-R).

Abstract

The objective of this study was to measure the internal consistency and construct validity of the CITES-R. The most recent version of the CITES-R is comprised of 78 items that fall into 11 scales along 4 dimensions: posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (intrusive thoughts, avoidance, hyperarousal, sexual anxiety); eroticism; abuse attributions (self-blame and guilt, empowerment, personal vulnerability, and dangerous world); and social reactions (negative reactions by others and social support). It is expected that CITES-R scales would be correlated with similar measures from other scales. Participants were 158 sexually abused children ages 7 to 12 years, and a nonabusive parent or primary caretaker. They completed a series of measures, including the CITES-R. A subsample of 17 repeated the assessment after 1 to 2 months with intervening treatment. The results showed that the construct validity of he CITES-R symptom scales was supported. All correlations with comparable self-report measures were in the expected direction, although many were modest in size. It was clear that the CITES-R symptom scales were largely uncorrelated with the parent-report Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-Revised (DICA-R) or Child Behavior Checklist 4/18 (CBCL). This was not unique to the CITES-R, but appeared to be a factor across measures. It was also clear that the predicted correlations between scales were much stronger within the CITES-R than outside of it. The social reactions and attribution measures within the instrument fit the expected causal model of social support and attributions impacting symptoms. There was no strong relationship between the CITES-R symptom scores and behavioral severity of abuse. Scores on the symptom scales were found to change over time during treatment, with three of the four symptom scales showing changes in the expected direction. 3 tables, 26 references