Acute stress among adolescents and female rape victims measured by ASC-Kids: a pilot study.
BACKGROUND
Rape is considered a stressful trauma and often with durable consequences. How the aftermath of rape is for young adolescents' girls considering acute stress is an overlooked field and remains to be studied.


OBJECTIVE
In this study, we wanted to investigate acute stress among adolescent victims of rape and the psychometric properties of the Acute Stress Checklist for Children (ASC-Kids).


METHODS
A clinical sample (n = 79) of raped girls, 13-17 years old who had turned to a special rape victim unit for treatment, answered the ASC-Kids. ASC-Kids was also given to a group of minor stressed, non-raped adolescents in the same age range (n = 154) together with the University of California at Los Angeles Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (UCLA PTSD RI), and the Sense of Coherence Scale 13 (SOC-13).


RESULTS
The scores from the groups were compared and showed significant differences in mean values on all the diagnostic criteria of acute stress disorder. In the clinical group, 36.7% obtained full ASD criteria. ASC-Kids could discriminate well between groups. Cronbach's alpha was found to be excellent, and the correlation between the UCLA PTSD RI and ASC-Kids found to be good; both ASC-Kids and UCLA PTSD RI had a good and moderate negative correlation with SOC-13.


CONCLUSIONS
Adolescent female rape victims were shown to have a very high level of acute stress, and the ASC-Kids was found to have sound psychometrics and can be a valuable screening instrument to support clinicians in their assessments of an indication of adolescents after potentially stressful events such as rape.
a Doris Nilsson, Department for Behavioral Sciences and Learning , Section for Psychology, Linköping University , SE-581 83 Linköping , Sweden.
Doris
D
Nilsson
b Carin Nordenstam, National Centre for Disaster Psychiatry, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala University , SE-751 85 Uppsala , Sweden.
Carin
C
Nordenstam
c Sara Green, Department for Behavioral Sciences and Learning , Section for Psychology, Linköping University , SE-581 83 Linköping , Sweden.
Sara
S
Green
d Annika Wetterhall, Department for Behavioral Sciences and Learning , Section for Psychology, Linköping University , SE-581 83 Linköping , Sweden.
Annika
A
Wetterhall
e Tom Lundin, National Centre for Disaster Psychiatry, Akademiska sjukhuset, Uppsala University , SE-751 85 Uppsala , Sweden.
Tom
T
Lundin
f Carl Göran Svedin, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine , Faculty of Health Sciences, Linköping University , SE-581 85 Linköping , Sweden.
Carl Göran
CG
Svedin
D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011594:Psychometrics; D011902:Rape / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*
ASC-Kids; Acute stress; Adolescents; Psychometrics; Rape