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Psychometric Properties of the Child’s Reaction to Traumatic Events Scale-Revised in English and Lugandan

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Abstract

Brief and age-appropriate measures of trauma-related symptoms are useful for identifying children in need of clinical services. The current study examines the psychometric properties of the 23-item Child’s Reaction to Traumatic Events Scale-Revised (CRTES-R). The CRTES-R includes subscales assessing hyperarousal, avoidance and intrusion. To date, no studies have examined the psychometric properties of this revised measure or cross-cultural differences in its factor structure. Two samples of (a) children (ages 6–21) who had experienced a hurricane in the USA or Grenada (N = 135), and (b) Ugandan children (ages 8–17) who had experienced a variety of traumatic events (N = 339) completed the CRTES-R in English or Lugandan. Confirmatory factor analysis supported an empirically adjusted model with three modified latent factors in both the English (χ2/df = 1.34, CFI = .90, RMSEA = .05) and Lugandan samples (χ2/df = 1.45, CFI = .93, RMSEA = .04). Although the analysis supported separate hyperarousal, avoidance and intrusion subscales, the items that loaded on each factor differed from the original CRTES-R subscales. The English version of the CRTES-R showed good concurrent validity with the Kauai Recovery Index measure of trauma symptoms. Those using the CRTES-R to assess children’s experiences of the different symptom types should consider using the empirically-derived subscales described in this paper; however, those who wish to capture a broad spectrum of PTSD symptoms should consider using all the original CRTES-R items and calculating a total score.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to Dr. Karlyne Greenko, Frank Mwebesa and Dr. Bergmiser for their support of the Ugandan data collection. Thanks to Christopher Immel, James Hadder, Larita Mason and Stephanie Johnson for their help on the data entry of the Ugandan data. Funding for the Ugandan study was provided by Save Africa’s Children, Los Angeles, CA. Support for Dr. Napper was provided by fellowship F32DA022902 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Additional funding was provided by Award Number P20MD003942 from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) and Award Number 1 R01 DA030234-01 from NIDA. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of NCMHD, NIDA or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Dr. Ste. #4711, Los Angeles, CA, 90045, USA

    Lucy E. Napper & Elizabeth M. Grimaldi

  2. Center for Behavioral Research and Services, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Dennis G. Fisher & Adi Jaffe

  3. Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Russell T. Jones

  4. Save Africa’s Children, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Vivian S. Lamphear

  5. Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Lisa Joseph

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  1. Lucy E. Napper
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Correspondence to Lucy E. Napper.

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Napper, L.E., Fisher, D.G., Jaffe, A. et al. Psychometric Properties of the Child’s Reaction to Traumatic Events Scale-Revised in English and Lugandan. J Child Fam Stud 24, 1285–1294 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-014-9936-1

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