Psychometric evaluation of the child PTSD symptom scale in Spanish and English

Given the consistent growth of the Latino population in the United States, there is a critical need for validated Spanish measures to assess posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in children. The current study examines the psychometric properties of the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS). We examined 259 children (8-17 years) who had experienced a recent traumatic event. Study measures were completed in Spanish (n = 106; boys = 58, girls = 48) or in English (n = 153; boys = 96, girls = 57). In addition to internal consistency, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted by testing four models to examine construct validity: (1) PTS single-factor, (2) DSM-IV three-factor, (3) Numbing four-factor, and (4) Dysphoria four-factor models. Findings demonstrated good internal consistency for both the English and Spanish versions of the CPSS. The English version revealed superior fit to the data for several models of PTS symptoms structure compared to the Spanish version. The current study demonstrated construct validity for the English CPSS, but not for the Spanish CPSS. Future studies will examine additional alternative models as well as convergent and discriminant validity of the Spanish CPSS.