The 39-item Child Exposure to Community Violence (CECV) scale: exploratory factor analysis and relationship to PTSD symptomatology in trauma-exposed children and adolescents.
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).


OBJECTIVE
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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, PO Box 19063, Tygerberg, 7505, Cape Town, South Africa, lmartin@sun.ac.za.
Lindi
L
Martin
Nicola
N
Revington
Soraya
S
Seedat
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012931:Social Environment; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*