Post Traumatic Symptom Inventory for Children

The PT-SIC is a self-report measure of PTSD symptoms for children aged 4-8. It assesses the DSM-IV criteria for the diagnosis of PTSD. The language is simple, to allow young children to respond to the questions in an interview format. The measure includes several validity questions to ensure that the child understands how to respond and endorses everyday complaints.

Overview

Acronym:

PT-SIC

Citation:

Eisen, M. (1997). The Development and Validation of a New Measure of PTSD for Young Children. Unpublished Manuscript.

Contact Information:

meisen@calstatela.edu

Cost:

Free

Copyrighted:

Domain Assessed:

Trauma Exposure/Reminders

Traumatic Stress

Age Range:

4-8

Measure Type:

Screening

Measure Format:

Questionnaire

Administration

Number of Items:

Average Time to Complete (min):

Reporter Type:

Self

Average Time to Score (min):

Response Format:

Child answers Yes or No (If Yes, specify whether it's a real lot, like almost every day, or just sometimes).

Materials Needed:

Paper/Pencil

Sample Items:


Domains	Scale	Sample Items
PTSD-Related Symptomatology (child)	Criteria A: Trauma Exposure	Do you ever hear gun shots around your neighborhood? Did you ever see a car crash or a big fire?
	Criteria B: Reexperiencing	Some children think about really bad things that happened to them. Do you think about really bad things that happened to you? Do you think about these bad things a whole lot lik
	Criteria C : Avoidance	Some children can’t remember bad or scary things. Is it sometimes hard for you to remember bad or scary things?
	Criteria D : Hyperarousal	Some children can’t fall asleep because they are thinking about bad or scary things that happened. Is it ever hard for you to sleep because you’re thinking about really bad or scary things?

Information Provided:

Areas of Concern/Risks

Continuous Assessment

Diagnostic Info DSM IV

Dichotomous Assessment

Raw Scores

Training

Training to Administer:

Training by Experienced Clinician (4+ hours)

Training to Interpret:

Training by Experienced Clinician (less than 4 hours)

Parallel or Alternate Forms

Parallel Forms:

Alternate Forms:

Different Age Forms:

Altered Version Forms:

Psychometrics

Clinical Cutoffs:

Yes

Clinical Cutoffs Description:

Score 2+ on a symptom indicates child meets criteria for symptom. DSM-IV PTSD diagnosed by totaling symptoms in each category (B,C,D) and determining if required number of symptoms in each category are met for PTSD diagnosis.

Reliability:


Type:	Rating	Statistics	Avg
Test-Retest-# days: 14	Acceptable	r	0.
Internal Consistency		Cronbach's alpha
Inter-rater		Not known
Parallel/Alternate Forms		Not known

References for Content Validity:

A working group of clinicians and graduate students assessed an initial pool of 130 items that were designed to assess the 17 criteria for PTSD. Following their review a pool of 101 items remained. Fourteen clinicians (seven licensed psychologists and seven advanced graduate students) who specialized in working with traumatized children were asked to rate how well each item fit the symptom criteria it was matched to on a 1-4 scale (4=excellent, 3=good fit, 2=average fit, 1=poor fit). Items with an average score of 2.7 or higher were the only ones retained. The instrument with 81 items was then administered to 70 maltreated children. Afterward, 51 questions were dropped from the measure due to children's inability to understand and reliably answer each question. The remaining 30 items were sent out to several internationally recognized experts on trauma for commentary. Wording revisions were made to these 30 items based on this feedback, resulting in the final 30 items. Consistent with DSM-IV criteria for PTSD.

Construct Validity:


Validity Type	Not known	Clinical Samples	Diverse Samples
Convergent/Concurrent		Yes	Yes
Discriminant	Yes
Sensitive to Change	Yes
Intervention Effects	Yes
Longitudinal/Maturation Effects	Yes
Sensitive to Theoretically Distinct Groups	Yes
Factorial Validity		Yes

References for Construct Validity:

TSCC (r=.66), Child Dissociate Checklist and the Children's Perceptual Alteration Scale (r=.38). Also measure does show evidence of factorial validity. It has two main factors: Reexperiencing (alpha=.74) and Fear and Hyperarousal (alpha=70).

Criterion Validity:


	Not Known	Not Found	Nonclinical Samples	Clinical Samples	Diverse Samples
Predictive Validity:	Yes
Postdictive Validity:				Yes

Sensitivity Rate Score:

0.14

Overall Psychometric Limitations:

Psychometrics were collected using a sample of children aged 4-17. It is unclear how many young children (aged 4-8) were sampled. Since the measure was developed specifically for the young age range, more data and psychometric information is need with this age group.

Translations

Translation Quality:


Language:	Translated	2	3	4	5	6	7
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Population Information

Population Used for Measure Development:

1. 70 Maltreated children were interviewed in the item selection phase of measure development. No ethnicity, SES, region/location/city, education level, or age range of these children were provided. Abuse was physical or sexual abuse, having their life threatened, hearing gunshots, or being in a serious accident. 2. 400 children aged 4-17 were screened. 220 children aged 4-17 were interviewed using the PT-SIC as part of an assessment for allegations of abuse and neglect. These 220 endorsed a potentially traumatic event and were administered the full PT-SIC. Children were from Mt. Sinai Hospital's Under the Rainbow Program in Chicago, Illinois. No ethnicity, SES, or education level for these children was provided.

Populations with which Measure Has Demonstrated Reliability and Validity:

Other

Use with Diverse Populations:


Population Type:	1	2	3	4	5	6

Pros & Cons/References

Pros:

1. One of the few measures developed to directly interview young children about PTSD symptoms.

Cons:

1. Some of the language still appears somewhat complex for young children. 2. There are limited psychometric data available. 3. Not widely used or shown valid among different cultures. No translations available.

References:

A PsychInfo search (6/05) for “Post Traumatic Symptom Inventory for Children” or “PT-SIC” anywhere revealed that the measure has been referenced in 0 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Developer of Review:

Carla Stover, Ph.D.

Editor of Review:

Madhur Kulkarni, M.S., Chandra Ghosh Ippen, Ph.D.

Last Updated:

Monday, January 20, 2014

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