The psychometric properties of the International Trauma Questionnaire - Child and Adolescent version in Turkish culture

Background: The International Trauma Questionnaire - Child and Adolescent Version (ITQ-CA) is an assessment tool designed to evaluate ICD-11 defined post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD (CPTSD) symptoms in children and adolescents and is widely utilized on an international scale.Objective: In this study, the psychometric properties of the ITQ-CA in the Turkish cultural context were evaluated.Method: The research sample consisted of 204 children and adolescents aged 7-17 who experienced the earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaraş, Turkey, in February 6, 2023. To determine the construct validity of the scale, four different models were established based on ICD-11, and their structures were analysed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).Results: The CFA results indicated that among the models tested, only the first-order six-factor model demonstrated an acceptable fit. Although it was determined to exhibit better model fit compared to other models, high correlations between subscales and inappropriate factor loadings in items (Heywood cases) were observed. This indicates a potential issue of model misspecification, suggesting that the obtained results should be interpreted with caution.Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the validity and reliability of the ITQ-CA, a widely used international assessment tool, in the Turkish cultural context. However, consistent with the literature, Heywood cases were observed in the models tested. These results indicate that models used to examine trauma symptoms with the ITQ should be carefully evaluated.