Measuring Reactions to Sexual Trauma among Children: Comparing the Children's Impact of Traumatic Events Scale and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This study examined convergent and discriminant validity between the Children's Impact of Traumatic Events Scale—revised (CITES-R) and the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) in a sample of 80 sexually abused children. Convergent and discriminant validity between the CITES-R post-traumatic stress measure and the TSCC clinical scales were demonstrated. Also, convergent and discriminant validity for the CITES-R Eroticism scale were supported. More specifically, the CITES-R Eroticism scale was significantly associated with the TSCC Sexual Concerns (SC) scale (particularly the SC Preoccupation subscale), but was unrelated to the other TSCC clinical scales. Partial support for the expected relationships between the CITES-R Social Reactions and Attributions subscales and the TSCC clinical scales was noted. As expected, the CITES-R Social Support subscale was modestly associated with TSCC measures of depression and anger, whereas the CITES-R Negative Reactions by Others subscale was significantly related to symptoms on all six TSCC clinical scales. Furthermore, the CITES-R Self-Blame/Guilt, Personal Vulnerability, and Empowerment subscales were significantly associated with the majority of the TSCC clinical scales, whereas the CITES-R Dangerous World subscale (which also demonstrated poor internal consistency) was not significantly associated with any of the six TSCC clinical scales.