The Child PTSD Symptom Scale: An update and replication of its psychometric properties

Reginald Nixon, Richard Meiser-Stedman, Tim Dalgleish, William Yule, David Clark, Sean Perrin, Patrick Smith

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    75 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The psychometric properties of the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) were examined in 2 samples. Sample 1 (N = 185, ages 6-17 years) consisted of children recruited from hospitals after accidental injury, assault, and road traffic trauma, and assessed 6 months posttrauma. Sample 2 (N = 68, ages 6-17 years) comprised treatment-seeking children who had experienced diverse traumas. In both samples psychometric properties were generally good to very good (internal reliability for total CPSS scores =.83 and.90, respectively). The point-biserial correlation of the CPSS with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) diagnosis derived from structured clinical interview was.51, and children diagnosed with PTSD reported significantly higher symptoms than non-PTSD children. The CPSS demonstrated applicability to be used as a diagnostic measure, demonstrating sensitivity of 84% and specificity of 72%. The performance of the CPSS Symptom Severity Scale to accurately identify PTSD at varying cutoffs is reported in both samples, with a score of 16 or above suggested as a revised cutoff.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1025-1031
    Number of pages7
    JournalPsychological Assessment
    Volume25
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2013

    Keywords

    • Confirmatory factor analysis
    • Cpss
    • Posttraumatic stress disorder
    • Reliable change index
    • Test-retest reliability

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