TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2013//
TI  - The 39-item Child Exposure to Community Violence (CECV) Scale: exploratory factor analysis and relationship to PTSD symptomatology in trauma-exposed children and adolescents
JO  - International journal of behavioral medicine
A1  - Martin, Lindi
A1  - Revington, Nicola
A1  - Seedat, Soraya
SP  - 599
EP  - 608
VL  - 20
IS  - 4
N2  - BACKGROUND: Exposure to multiple forms of community violence in youth is associated with a wide range of negative health outcomes. A number of scales measuring community violence exposure have been developed, including the Child Exposure to Community Violence Checklist (CECV). PURPOSE: This study examined the psychometric properties of an adapted version of the CECV in a South African sample of trauma-exposed youths. In addition, the study assessed the relationship between exposure to community violence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology. METHODS: Trauma-exposed youth completed two self-report instruments, namely, the CECV and the Child PTSD Checklist (CPC), on a single occasion. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to investigate the factor structure of the CECV, and the association between CECV and CPC scores was also explored. RESULTS: EFA of the CECV revealed three factors that accounted for 38.66 % of variance in the model and consisted of 29 of the original 39 items. Reliability of the three factors ranged from moderate to excellent (α = 0.682 to α = 0.892). Exposure to community violence was positively correlated with posttraumatic stress symptomatology (r = 0.464, p < 0.001). Adolescents attending high school reported significantly higher levels of exposure to community violence than did children in primary school. CONCLUSION: Findings provide support for the conceptualization of exposure to community violence as comprising distinct, multiple factors. Levels of exposure to community violence and family violence were high. We found a highly significant, positive association between exposure to community violence and PTSD symptomatology, providing evidence for the convergent validity of the CECV.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1070-5503
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12529-012-9269-7
ID  - ref1
ER  -