title: Psychometric Properties of the Child's Reaction to Traumatic Events Scale-Revised in English and Lugandan.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Dr. Ste. #4711, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA.
authors.forename: Lucy E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Napper
authors.affiliation: Center for Behavioral Research and Services, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Dennis G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Center for Behavioral Research and Services, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Adi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jaffe
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Russell T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: Save Africa's Children, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Vivian S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Lamphear
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, 1 LMU Dr. Ste. #4711, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Grimaldi
keywords: CRTES-R; Children; Cross-cultural; Psychometrics; Traumatic stress