Trauma and countertransference: development and validity of the Assessment of Countertransference Scale (ACS).
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the present study was to investigate the construct validity of the Assessment of Countertransference Scale (ACS) in the context of the trauma care, through the identification of the underlying latent constructs of the measured items and their homogeneity.


METHODS
ACS assesses 23 feelings of CT in three factors: closeness, rejection and indifference. ACS was applied to 50 residents in psychiatry after the first appointment with 131 victims of trauma consecutively selected during 4 years. ACS was analyzed by exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis, internal consistence and convergent-discriminant validity. RESULTS In spite of the fact that closeness items obtained the highest scores, the EFA showed that the factor rejection (24% of variance, α = 0.88) presented a more consistent intercorrelation of the items, followed by closeness (15% of variance, α = 0.82) and, a distinct factor, sadness (9% of variance, α = 0.72). Thus, a modified version was proposed. In the comparison between the original and the proposed version, CFA detected better goodness-of-fit indexes for the proposed version (GFI = 0.797, TLI = 0.867, CFI = 0.885 vs. GFI = 0.824, TLI = 0.904, CFI = 0.918).


CONCLUSIONS
ACS is a promising instrument for assessing CT feelings, making it valid to access during the care of trauma victims.
Núcleo de Estudos e Tratamento do Trauma Psíquico, Center for Study and Treatment of Traumatic Stress, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Rua Ramiro Barcelos 2350, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. erico.moura@gmail.com
Erico de Moura
Ede M
Silveira Júnior
Guilherme Vanoni
GV
Polanczyk
Mariana
M
Eizirik
Simone
S
Hauck
Cláudio Laks
CL
Eizirik
Lúcia Helena Freitas
LH
Ceitlin
D000328:Adult; D003379:Countertransference; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011570:Psychiatry; D011594:Psychometrics; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires