Psychometric properties of the Trauma Assessment for Adults

The Trauma Assessment for Adults (TAA) was developed to facilitate the assessment of exposure to traumatic events that could result in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The TAA inquires about numerous potentially traumatic events that an individual may have experienced. Although the TAA has been used extensively for clinical and research purposes, its psychometric properties have never been formally evaluated. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the psychometric properties of this frequently used measure.

The studies reported here describe the performance of the TAA in two samples-college undergraduates (N=142) and community mental health center clients (N=67). Among undergraduates, 1-week temporal stability was evaluated and, in both samples, item- and scale-level convergence of the TAA with an established trauma exposure measure was assessed. Convergence of the TAA with clinically related constructs was also evaluated.

The TAA exhibited adequate temporal stability (r=.80) and satisfactory item-level convergence with existing measures of trauma history among college students. In the clinical sample, the TAA again converged well with an established measure of trauma exposure (r=.65). It was not as strongly predictive, in either sample, of trauma-related distress relative to an alternate trauma exposure measure.

Although it performs satisfactorily, the TAA does not appear to be superior to other existing measures of trauma exposure.