Screening and Assessment Tools for Child Welfare
Description / Purpose:
The Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) is a child version of the Foa et al. (1997) Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale (PTDS) for adults. This self-report measure assesses the frequency of all DSM-IV-defined PTSD symptoms and was also designed to assess PTSD diagnosis. The first 17 items measure PTSD symptomatology and yield a total Symptom Severity score. Seven additional items assess daily functioning and functional impairment.
Target Population: Children and adolescents ages 7-18
Intended Users: Mental health professionals and psychiatrists
Time to Administer: 15 minutes
Completed By: Child/Adolescent
Modalities Available: Paper and pencil
Scoring Information: Scoring takes 5 minutes to complete using a 4-point Likert scale: 0 = Not at all or only at one time; 1=Once in a week or less/once in a while; 3 = 2 to 4 times a week/half the time; 4 = 5 or more times a week/almost always.
Languages Available: English, Korean, Russian, Spanish
Training Requirements for Intended Users: Clinical training
Availability: No cost; send an email to foa@mail.med.upenn.edu to request it
Contact Information
- Company: Center for the Treatment and Study of Anxiety - University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry
- Website: www.med.upenn.edu/ctsa
- Name: Edna Foa
- Email: foa@mail.med.upenn.edu
- Phone: (215) 746-3327
Summary of Relevant Psychometric Research
This assessment has received the Assessment Rating of "A – Reliability and Validity Demonstrated" based on the published, peer-reviewed research available. The assessment must have 2 or more published, peer-reviewed studies that demonstrated that the measure is reliable and valid. Please see the Assessment Rating Scale for more information.
Foa, E. B., Johnson, K. M., Feeny, N. C., & Treadwell, K. R. H. (2001). The Child PTSD Symptom Scale: A preliminary examination of its psychometric properties. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30(3), 376-384.
Sample:
Participants — 75 children and adolescents ages 8 to 15
Race/Ethnicity — 89% Caucasian, 11% other ethnicities
Summary:
The CPSS was administered to 75 school-age children approximately 2 years after the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake. The psychometric properties of the CPSS show high internal consistency and test–retest reliability for both the total score and the three subscales. Convergent validity with the Child Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (CPTSD–RI) was established. The correlations of the CPSS with depression and anxiety measures were lower than those with the CPTSD–RI, providing some support for discriminant validity of the CPSS. These results suggest that the CPSS is a useful tool for the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severity and for the screening of PTSD diagnosis among traumatized children.
Kataoka, S., Stein, B. D., Jaycox, L. H., Wong, M., Escudero, P., Tu, W., … Fink, A. (2003). Effectiveness of a school-based mental health program for traumatized Latino immigrant children. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(3), 311-318.
Sample:
Participants — 198 students in third through eighth grade with trauma-related depression and/or posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms
Race/Ethnicity — 100% Latino/Hispanic
Summary:
Symptoms of PTSD in the past month were measured with the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS). In this sample, scale internal consistency was high. A cutoff score of 11 was used to determine eligibility for participation in the intervention, consistent with moderate clinical levels of PTSD symptoms.
Date Reviewed: August 2011