A Short Form of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children

The purpose of the current study was to develop a short form (SF) of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC). The TSCC-SF) maintained 29 items, from the original 54 items, in a sample (N = 215) of sexually abused children who were seeking treatment at a child advocacy center. Exploratory factor analysis refined the original measure, and confirmatory factor analysis provided evidence for best fit for a six-factor, 29-item model. The TSCC-SF evidenced good internal reliability and showed convergent validity with child ratings of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms obtained from the University of California at Los Angeles PTSD Reaction Index. The TSCC-SF has promise as a shorter assessment measure with sexually abused children in numerous settings, including child advocacy centers and pediatric clinics, where efficient screening and assessment are essential for providing the best standard of care.