title: An Update on the Clinical Utility of the Children's Post-Traumatic Cognitions Inventory.
abstract: The Children's Post-Traumatic Cognitions Inventory (CPTCI) is a self-report questionnaire that measures maladaptive cognitions in children and young people following exposure to trauma. In this study, the psychometric properties of the CPTCI were examined in further detail with the objective of furthering its utility as a clinical tool. Specifically, we investigated the CPTCI's discriminant validity, test-retest reliability, and the potential for the development of a short form of the measure. Three samples (London, East Anglia, Australia) of children and young people exposed to trauma (N = 535; 7-17 years old) completed the CPTCI and a structured clinical interview to measure posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms between 1 and 6 months following trauma. Test-retest reliability was investigated in a subsample of 203 cases. The results showed that a score in the range of 46 to 48 on the CPTCI was indicative of clinically significant appraisals as determined by the presence of PTSD. The measure also had moderate-to-high test-retest reliability (r = .78) over a 2-month period. The Children's Post-Traumatic Cognitions Inventory-Short Form (CPTCI-S) had excellent internal consistency (α = .92), and moderate-to-high test-retest reliability (r = .78). The examination of construct validity showed the model had an excellent fitting factor structure (Comparative Fit index = 0.95, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.91, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = .07). A score ranging from 16 to 18 was the best cutoff point on the CPTCI-S, in that it was indicative of clinically significant appraisals as determined by the presence of PTSD. Based on these results, we concluded that the CPTCI is a useful tool to support the practice of clinicians and that the CPTCI-S has excellent psychometric properties.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: McKinnon
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, Denmark Hill, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, North Island, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Salmon
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, Denmark Hill, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yule
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dalgleish
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, Somerset, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dixon
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
authors.forename: Reginald D V
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Nixon
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, East Anglia, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meiser-Stedman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report / Q000592:standards*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis*