Citation

Bernstein DP, Stein JA, Newcomb MD, Walker E, Pogge D, Ahluvalia T, Stokes J, Handelsman L, Medrano M, Desmond D, Zule WA. Child Abuse Negl. 2003; 27(2): 169-190.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Fordham University, Dealy Hall, 3rd Floor, Bronx, NY 10458, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12615092

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to develop and validate a short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (the CTQ-SF) as a screening measure for maltreatment histories in both clinical and nonreferred groups. METHOD: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the 70 original CTQ items were used to create a 28-item version of the scale (25 clinical items and three validity items) and test the measurement invariance of the 25 clinical items across four samples: 378 adult substance abusing patients from New York City, 396 adolescent psychiatric inpatients, 625 substance abusing individuals from southwest Texas, and 579 individuals from a normative community sample (combined N=1978). RESULTS: Results showed that the CTQ-SF's items held essentially the same meaning across all four samples (i.e., measurement invariance). Moreover, the scale demonstrated good criterion-related validity in a subsample of adolescents on whom corroborative data were available. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the viability of the CTQ-SF across diverse clinical and nonreferred populations.

Language: en