title: Measuring trauma and stressful events in childhood and adolescence among patients with first-episode psychosis: initial factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Trauma Experiences Checklist.
abstract: Past trauma and stressful events, especially in childhood and adolescence, are common among individuals with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia. Traumatic experiences are thought to be a socio-environmental risk factor not only for poorer outcomes, but also potentially for the onset of these disorders. Because improved measurement tools are needed, we developed and studied, among 205 first-episode psychosis patients, the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, and initial validity of the Trauma Experiences Checklist (TEC), our measure of trauma and stressful events during childhood/adolescence. We assessed validity of subscales using correlations with Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, Parental Harsh Discipline, Violence Exposure, and TEC-Informant Version scores. Exploratory factor analysis resulted in two internally consistent subscales (Cronbach's α=0.79 and 0.80, respectively), interpersonal abuse and family stress, and violence, death, and legal involvement. Scores from the former subscale were substantially associated with CTQ-SF physical, emotional, and sexual abuse (r=0.42-0.57, all p<0.001) and Violence Exposure (r=0.49, p<0.001). On the other hand, violence, death, and legal involvement scores were most highly correlated with Violence Exposure (r=0.49, p<0.001), and not with most CTQ-SF subscales. The TEC is a potentially useful tool in assessing diverse traumatic life events across various social contexts during childhood and adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Cristofaro
authors.forename: Sean D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Cleary
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ramsay Wan
authors.forename: Beth
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Broussard
authors.forename: Colby
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Haggard
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jananeh
authors.forename: Neely L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: Michael T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Compton
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D057189:Checklist; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
keywords: First-episode psychosis; Psychosis; Schizophrenia; Stressful life events; Trauma; Traumatic experiences