General Information

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire is a 28-item self-report inventory that provides brief, reliable, and valid screening for histories of abuse and neglect. It inquires about five types of maltreatment - emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, and emotional and physical neglect. Also included is a 3 item Minimiziation/Denial scale for detecting false-negative trauma reports.

Number of Versions:	1
Version:	Childhood Trauma Questionnaire
Author(s):	David P. Bernstein and Laura Fink
Date of Publication:	1997
Material(s) Needed for Test:	Instrument
Manual:	Available
Time to Administer:	5 minutes
Charge for one form or kit:	Yes

Purpose and Nature of Test

Construct(s) Measured:	Victimization
Population for which designed:	Age Range: 12 and older
Method of Administration:	Individual
Source of Information:	Self
Subtests and Scores:	Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Physical Neglect, Minimization/Denial
Number of Items:	28
Type of Scale:	Likert

Technical Evaluation

Norms: 

Sample Size:	398
Population:	Adolescents (12 to 17 years) admitted to the inpatient service of a private psychiatric hosptial
Culture/ethnicity:	African-American, Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino
SES Level:	Middle to Upper Middle

Reliability: 

Psychometric information:	Provided for Subscales.
The range of Test-Retest Value:	0.88
The range of Inter-rater reliability:	Not assessed
The range of Internal consistency:	0.80 to 0.97

Validity: 

 Criterion validity was assessed and found to be acceptable.

Practical Evaluation

Scoring Procedure:	Manual Scoring
Examiner Qualifications and Training Required:	Masters Degree
Permission Required to Use Instrument:	Yes
If yes, by whom:	Psychological Corporation

Notes

Original Reference(s):

Bernstein, D. P., Fink, L., Handelsman, L., & Foote, J. (1994). Initial reliability and validity of a new retrospective measure of child abuse and neglect. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151 (8), 1132-1136.

Other Reference(s):

Fink, L. A., Bernstein, D., Handelsman, L., Foote, J., & Lovejoy, M. (1995). Initial reliability and validity of the Childhood Trauma Inteview: A new multidimensional measure of childhood interpersonal trauma. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152 (9), 1329-1335. Bernstein, D. P., Ahluvalia, T., Pogge, D., Handelsman, L. (1997). Validity of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in an adolescent psychiatric population. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 36 (3), 340-348.

Contact

Organization:	Psychological Corporation
Address:	19500 Bulverde Road
City:	San Antonio
State:	TX
Zip:	78259-3701
Phone:	(800) 872-1726
Fax:	(800) 232-1223
Website:	http://www.harcourtassessment.com

Last updated by Violence Institute of New Jersey:  August 2006