Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children - Alternate Version Briere, J. 1996

Transcription

1 Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children - Alternate Version Briere, J Description of Measure Purpose To assess the effects of childhood trauma through the child s self-report. Conceptual Organization The 54-item Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) consists of two validity scales (Underresponse and Hyperresponse), six clinical scales (Anxiety, Depression, Posttraumatic Stress, Dissociation, Anger, and Sexual Concerns) and 8 critical items. The measure is written at a level appropriate for the language and reading capabilities of children 8-16 years of age (Briere, 1996). The TSCC-Alternate Version (TSCC-A) is a shortened version of the TSCC that excludes the 10 items that comprise the Sexual Concerns scale and one critical item relating to sexual issues. The TSCC-A addresses human subjects concerns that children might be upset by reference to sexual issues. It is recommended that the TSCC be used in clinical and forensic settings where sexual victimization is more likely to be found, and the TSCC-A be used in school settings (Briere 1996). Item Origin/Selection Process The TSCC is the children s version of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for adults. Items for both measures were selected based on factor analyses and consultation with experts in the field of psychopathology (Briere, 1996). Materials Test and manual are available from the publisher. Time Required 10 minutes 550

2 Administration Method Interviewer-administered to an individual, or to a group. Training Minimal Scoring Score Types For each item, the child records the frequency with which the statement pertains to her/him on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost all the time). Raw scale scores are derived by summing the response values for all items comprising the scale, and then dividing by the number of items within the scale. Please see Briere, 1996, for additional scoring information. Score Interpretation A higher score reflects greater symptomatology. T scores at or above 65 for any clinical scale are considered clinically significant (Briere, 1996). Norms and/or Comparative Data The TSCC was normed on 3008 children from three nonclinical samples: 53 female; 44 White, 27 Black, and 22 Hispanic (See Briere, 1996 for additional information). Caution should be used when comparing scores of LONGSCAN subjects with those obtained from normative samples because the LONGSCAN subjects had the items read to them by the interviewers, while subjects in the normative samples read the items themselves. Psychometric Support Reliability The TSCC clinical scales demonstrate good internal consistency reliability with alpha coefficients for the normative sample ranging from.82 (Depression) to.89 (Anger). In the normative sample the alpha reliability for the validity scales was good for UND (α =.85) and 551

3 moderate for HYP (α =.66). Internal consistency for the clinical scales was also good in several clinical samples (α =.80 to.89) (Briere, 1996). Validity Results of the TSCC are congruent with those derived from similar measures including the CBCL, the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and the Child Depression Inventory, indicating good concurrent validity. Also, among populations in which trauma symptomatology is expected to be substantial, for example, children with histories of abuse, scores have been high. Among children receiving treatment for traumatic experiences, scores on the TSCC tend to decrease over time (Lanktree & Briere, 1990, 1995). LONGSCAN Use Data Points Age 8 Respondent Child Mnemonic and Version TSA Rationale LONGSCAN chose to use the TSCC-A at the Age 8 interview because it is a standardized and valid child self-report measure of internalized distress, and includes symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. Results Descriptive Statistics Table 1 displays the percentage of children with elevated scores on the two TSCC validity scales. In the normative sample fewer than 2.5 of the total sample had significantly elevated scores on one of theses scales (2 had UND > 70; 1 had HYP > 90). Relative to the TSCC standardization sample a large percentage of LONGSCAN children had elevated scores 552

4 on one of the TSCC validity scales. Children were more likely to under-report symptoms than over-report. While boys were more likely to underreport symptoms than girls, there was no sex difference in the incidence of over-reporting. Black children and children from the EA site were the most likely to have elevated UND scores. Black children were also more likely than children of other races to have elevated HYP scores. Table 1 about here Although the large number of children scoring above the threshold on the validity scales is a concern, the author recommended (J. Briere, personal communication) that the data for these children remain in the database and be included in all analyses. Tables 2 and 3 show the means and standard deviations of the T scores for each of the clinical scales by race, sex, and study site. Both boys and girls have higher than average scores on all clinical scales except Anger. Multiracial boys demonstrate higher symptoms than other boys across all clinical scales. Similarly, boys at the SW and NW sites report the highest symptoms across clinical scales. The pattern is somewhat different for girls (Table 3). Like boys, the girls at the SW and NW sites have higher scores relative to other girls. However, it is White and Multiracial girls whose TSCC scores are highest. Table 2 about here Table 3 about here For both boys and girls the T score standard deviations are greater than average, indicating wide variability in scores. Given the higher than average scores for boys and girls overall and the large standard deviations seen, it is likely that a number of children are scoring at or above the clinical cutpoint on one or more of the clinical scales. Table 4 shows the percentage of LONGSCAN children scoring in the clinical range on each of the clinical scales by race and study site. Overall, between 8 and 24 of the LONGSCAN children had elevated clinical scale scores indicating that these children have scores that equal or exceed 94 of the standardization sample. A greater percentage of our sample scored in the clinical range on Anxiety than on the other clinical scales. Table 4 about here 553

5 Hispanic children tended to have the greatest percentage of scores in the clinical range across all scales except Anger. Black children and children of Other races were least likely to have clinically significant scores on Anxiety, PTS. The NW site had the greatest percentage of children in the clinical range across all scales, and the EA site had the lowest percentage. Reliability As can be seen in Table 6, internal consistency for the TSCC scales using the LONGSCAN sample was generally good and comparable to alpha reliabilities reported by the author (Briere, 1996). Overall reliability for each of the scales ranged from.76 (Depression) to.85 (Anger). Alpha reliabilities for children of Other races was generally low (α =.20 [Depression] to.63 [Anger]). This may be due to the small sample size of this group. Comparison by study site reveals moderate to good internal consistency. Table 6 about here Publisher Information In order to grant permission for the inclusion of any sample items, PARS must know the name/title of the journal, article, or book for publication. An Agreement must be prepared for permission to include any items. A blanket permission is not available. Authors using sample items in publications must contact PARS when they know where the material will be published. Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. P.O. Box 998 Odessa, FL (800) 331-TEST References and Bibliography Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children: Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. 554

6 Evans, J. J., Briere, J., Boggiano, A. K., & Barrett, M. (1994, January). Reliability and validity of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children in a normal sample. Paper presented at the San Diego Conference on Responding to Child Maltreatment, San Diego, CA. Lanktree, C. B., & Briere, J. (1990, August). Early data on the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C). Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA. Lanktree, C. B., & Briere, J. (1995). Outcome of therapy for sexually abused children: A repeated measures study. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19,

7 Table 1. Normative Raw Scores by child s sex on the TSCC Scales for 8-12 Year Olds Anxiety Depression Anger Post-traumatic Stress Dissociation N M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) Males (3.8) 7.0 (4.0) 8.8 (5.1) 8.6 (5.3) 7.2 (4.9) Females (4.1) 7.8 (4.2) 8.3 (5.3) 9.5 (5.5) 7.4 (5.1) Source. Briere, J. (1996) 556

8 Table 1. Percent with elevated scores on the TSCC validity scales by Sex, Race, and Study Site. Age 8 Interview N Under-response Hyper-response Total Sex Male Female Race White Black Hispanic Multiracial Other Site EA MW SO SW NW Source. Based on data received at the LONGSCAN Coordinating Center through 6/21/

9 Table 2. Mean T-Scores for Boys on TSCC Scales by Race and Study Site. Age 8 Interview Anxiety Depression Post-traumatic Stress Dissociation Anger N M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) Total (16.42) (13.82) (13.41) (13.22) (12.18) Race White (15.76) (12.84) (13.58) (11.89) (11.67) Black (16.51) (14.39) (13.10) (13.73) (12.20) Hispanic (13.91) (11.40) (14.20) (13.56) (9.19) Multiracial (18.74) (14.27) (14.04) (13.92) (14.08) Other (5.86) (10.57) (9.57) (8.47) (6.00) Site EA (14.72) (11.94) (11.70) (12.02) (10.35) MW (14.58) (14.42) (12.16) (12.08) (13.34) SO (13.84) (11.94) (12.43) (11.65) (11.42) SW (17.75) (14.23) (13.94) (14.41) (12.20) NW (18.31) (14.23) (14.86) (13.93) (13.63) Source. Based on data received at the LONGSCAN Coordinating Center through 6/21/

10 Table 3. Mean T-Scores for Girls on TSCC Scales by Race and Study Site. Age 8 Interview Anxiety Depression Post-traumatic Stress Dissociation Anger N M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) M (SD) Total (14.09) (11.96) (11.83) (11.10) (10.37) Race White (15.05) (12.43) (12.82) (11.32) (10.94) Black (13.59) (11.46) (11.04) (10.47) (9.92) Hispanic (15.16) (13.10) (12.98) (12.76) (11.76) Multiracial (13.14) (12.59) (11.74) (12.67) (11.76) Other (10.95) (5.18) (7.93) (9.23) (5.12) Site EA (12.54) (9.66) (9.65) (9.69) (8.36) MW (12.72) (10.77) (10.46) (9.15) (9.79) SO (13.49) (11.07) (12.04) (11.02) (10.89) SW (14.50) (12.70) (12.50) (12.18) (10.69) NW (15.36) (13.44) (12.70) (11.86) (11.57) Source. Based on data received at the LONGSCAN Coordinating Center through 6/21/

11 Table 4. Percent scoring in the clinical range on TSCC Clinical Scales by Sex, Race and Study Site. Age 8 Interview N Anxiety Depression Post-traumatic Stress Dissociation Anger Total Sex Male Female Race White Black Hispanic Multiracial Other Site EA MW SO SW NW Source. Based on data received at the LONGSCAN Coordinating Center through 6/21/

12 Table 5. Percent with positive scores on critical items on the TSCC by Race and Study Site. Age 8 Interview This table has been removed due to changes in the measures copyright. 561

13 Table 6. Cronbach s Alpha Statistics for the TSCC Scales by Race and Study Site. Age 8 Interview Anxiety Depression Post-traumatic Stress Dissociation Anger Total Race White Black Hispanic Multiracial Other Site EA MW SO SW NW Source. Based on data received at the LONGSCAN Coordinating Center through 6/21/