Development and psychometric validation of the Pandemic-Related Traumatic Stress Scale for children and adults
Recommended Citation
Blackwell CK, Sherlock P, Jackson KL, Hofheimer JA, Cella D, Algermissen MA, Alshawabkeh AN, Avalos LA, Bastain T, Blair C, Bosquet Enlow M, Brennan PA, Breton C, Bush NR, Chandran A, Collazo S, Conradt E, Crowell SE, Deoni S, Elliott AJ, Frazier JA, Ganiban JM, Gold DR, Herbstman JB, Joseph C, Karagas MR, Lester B, Lasky-Su JA, Leve LD, LeWinn KZ, Mason WA, McGowan EC, McKee KS, Miller RL, Neiderhiser JM, O'Connor TG, Oken E, O'Shea TM, Pagliaccio D, Schmidt RJ, Singh AM, Stanford JB, Trasande L, Wright RJ, Duarte CS, and Margolis AE. Development and psychometric validation of the Pandemic-Related Traumatic Stress Scale for children and adults. Psychol Assess 2023; 35(11):1054-1067.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2023
Publication Title
Psychological assessment
Abstract
To assess the public health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, investigators from the National Institutes of Health Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) research program developed the Pandemic-Related Traumatic Stress Scale (PTSS). Based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) acute stress disorder symptom criteria, the PTSS is designed for adolescent (13-21 years) and adult self-report and caregiver-report on 3-12-year-olds. To evaluate psychometric properties, we used PTSS data collected between April 2020 and August 2021 from non-pregnant adult caregivers (n = 11,483), pregnant/postpartum individuals (n = 1,656), adolescents (n = 1,795), and caregivers reporting on 3-12-year-olds (n = 2,896). We used Mokken scale analysis to examine unidimensionality and reliability, Pearson correlations to evaluate relationships with other relevant variables, and analyses of variance to identify regional, age, and sex differences. Mokken analysis resulted in a moderately strong, unidimensional scale that retained nine of the original 10 items. We detected small to moderate positive associations with depression, anxiety, and general stress, and negative associations with life satisfaction. Adult caregivers had the highest PTSS scores, followed by adolescents, pregnant/postpartum individuals, and children. Caregivers of younger children, females, and older youth had higher PTSS scores compared to caregivers of older children, males, and younger youth, respectively.
Medical Subject Headings
United States; Adolescent; Pregnancy; Humans; Adult; Child; Female; Male; Pandemics; Psychometrics; Reproducibility of Results; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders
PubMed ID
37902671
Volume
35
Issue
11
First Page
1054
Last Page
1067
