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Child Stress Disorders Checklist: a measure of ASD and PTSD in children

Glenn Saxe1, Neharika Chawla, Frederick Stoddard

  • 1Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, USA. glenn.saxe@bmc.org

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
|July 23, 2003
PubMed

Insights

The Child Stress Disorders Checklist (CSDC) reliably measures acute stress and posttraumatic symptoms in children. This observer-report tool demonstrates valid psychometric properties for clinical and research use.

Area of Science:

  • Child psychology
  • Trauma studies
  • Psychometrics

Background:

  • Childhood trauma can lead to acute stress and posttraumatic symptoms.
  • Accurate assessment tools are crucial for identifying and managing these conditions in children.
  • The Child Stress Disorders Checklist (CSDC) is an observer-report instrument designed for this purpose.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Child Stress Disorders Checklist (CSDC).
  • To determine the reliability and validity of the CSDC in assessing acute stress and posttraumatic symptoms in children.

Main Methods:

  • The CSDC was administered to parents of children with acute burns and traffic crash injuries.
  • Interrater reliability was assessed using nurses' reports.
  • Test-retest reliability was evaluated at 2 days and 3 months.
  • Convergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity were examined using established instruments and trauma severity indices.

Main Results:

  • The CSDC demonstrated reliable psychometric properties.
  • The instrument proved to be valid for assessing stress and trauma symptoms in children.

Conclusions:

  • The Child Stress Disorders Checklist (CSDC) is a reliable and valid observer-report measure.
  • The CSDC has significant utility in both clinical practice and research settings for evaluating acute stress and posttraumatic symptoms in children.
Abstract

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