Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC)

1. Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) CES 728 Advanced Assessment Regent University, Summer 2010 Taquisa Simmons, James Dalton, Nora Coleman, Angel Knoverek

2. Purpose • Self-report measure of posttraumatic distress and related psychological symptomatology (Briere, 1996). • Evaluates children who have experienced traumatic events, including childhood physical and sexual abuse, victimization by peers, major losses, the witnessing of violence done to others, and natural disasters (Briere, 1996) • Two versions: • TSCC & TSCC-A

3. Intended Use • Male and female children • Ages 8-16 years; TSI for adults • Normative adjustments for 17 year olds • Individual or group administration

4. Recommendations for use • Not designed for use as a diagnostic tool. • Should be used to examine symptom profiles and symptom course following trauma. (Ohan, Myers, & Collett, 2002, p. 1408) • Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC) aged from 3 to 12 years is currently under development (Briere et al., in press)

5. Norm Group • Derived from large samples (total N>3,000) of nonclinical children across the United States (Evans, et al, 1994; Friedrich, 1995; Singer, et al., 1995) • Separate norms and T-scores are available according to sex and age (8-12 and 13-16) • Race not a major predictor of TSCC scores

6. Psychometric Properties • Reliable for all scales except for Sexual Concerns • Convergent and predictive validity in samples of traumatized and nontraumatized children and adolescents • Areas of sensitivity: posttraumatic difficulties, the effects of therapy for abused children, and the effects of child protection systems intervention

7. Strengths • Large norm sample (3,008 children for TSCC) (LONGSCAN) 828 adults for TSI (Briere & Elliott, 1997) • TSCC – 10 minutes self-administered; TSI – 20 minutes self-administered • TSI & TSCC are the most widely used self-report instrument to assess for trauma related disorders (Elhai, Gray, Kashdan, & Franklin, 2005) • Does not require parent report as many measures do for children • Alternate version of each assessment tool (TSCC-A for children, TSI-A for adults) does not contain items related to sexual concerns

8. Weaknesses • Non-clinical norm samples – identifies possible clinical cases by difference from the normal population • Non-representative sample – adult sample is supposed to closely resemble the total US population, but does not do so completely • TSI can not accurately distinguish malingering individuals (Rosen, Sawchuck, Atkins, Brown, Price, & Lees-Haley, 2006)

9. Cultural Relevance • Lifetime prevalence of PTSD is 8% in the US (DSM-IV-TR, 2000) • Childhood trauma can be difficult to accurately recognize • Use of tools requiring parent report can often be unusable if parents are suspected of causing a traumatic experience

10. Administration • Test Materials • Professional Manual and the TSCC Booklet, and the age-and sex-appropriate profile form.  • Professional Requirements • Administration • Can be given to a group of children. • Environmental considerations.

11. Scoring • Missing Responses • Calculating Raw Scores   • Converting to Standard Scores and Plotting the TSCC Profile

12. Interpretation • Normative Comparisons • Interpreting Scores • Validity • Underreponse (UND) • Hyperresponse (HYP)

13. Clinical Scales • Depression • Anxiety • Anger • Posttraumatic Stress (PTS) • Dissociation   • Sexual Concerns • Critical Items ON VIDEO - Review sample answers, scores and Example 1 - pages 8-10

14. Overall Impressions • Briere (1996) has produced a very useful (but somewhat limited) measure for the psychometric assessment of traumatic symptoms in children and adolescents that can be administered, scored, and interpretred in a relatively efficient and cost-effective manner, Boyle, G. 1985. The TSCC has been used extensively in a wide range of studies, and there are numerous published reports involving data derived from the instrument (20 such studies have been reported in the PsycINFO data base since 1999 alone)., Boyle, G., 1985. Compared with other instruments listed above, the TSCC appears to make a unique contribution to the measurement of posttraumatic symptomatology in children and adolescents.

15. References American Psychological Association. (1985). Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing.  Washington, DC: Author. Briere, J. (1996) Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children: Professional Manual.  Luntz, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. Briere, J., Johnson, K., Bissada, A., Damon, L., Crouch, J., Gil, E., Hanson, R., & Ernst, V. (in press). The Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC): Reliability and association with abuse exposure in a multi-site study. Child Abuse and Neglect. Boyle, G. J. (1987). Review of the (1985) “Standards for educational and psychological testing: AREA, PA and NAME.” Australian Journal of Psychology, 39, 235-237 Fricker, A., Smith, D.W. (2001) Trauma Specific versus Generic Measurement of Distress and the Validity of Self-Reported Symptoms in Sexually Abused Children. Journal of Child sexual Abuse,V10(4),51-66. Ohan, J.L., Myers, K., & Collett, B.R. (2002). Ten-year review of rating scales, IV: Scales assessing trauma and its effects. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 41:12, 1401-1422.