Validation of the French version of the Child Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction Index: psychometric properties in French speaking school-aged children

• Published in: PloS one 2014-12, Vol.9 (12), p.e112603-e112603
• Main Authors: Olliac, Bertrand, Birmes, Philippe, Bui, Eric, Allenou, Charlotte, Brunet, Alain, Claudet, Isabelle, Sales de Gauzy, Jérôme, Grandjean, Hélène, Raynaud, Jean-Philippe
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adolescent; Age; Analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Child; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Children; Children & youth; Correlation; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; Diagnostic systems; Earthquakes; Emergency medical services; Female; Females; France; Human health and pathology; Humans; Language; Life Sciences; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Multivariate analysis; Murders & murder attempts; Pediatrics; Population studies; Post traumatic stress disorder; Posttraumatic stress disorder; Principal components analysis; Psychometrics - methods; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Reliability analysis; Reproducibility of Results; ROC Curve; Sabatier, Paul (1854-1941); Santé publique et épidémiologie; Sensitivity; Sensitivity analysis; Sensitivity and Specificity; Social Sciences; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - epidemiology; Surgery; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teenagers; Traffic accidents; Traffic accidents & safety
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0112603

Although the reliable and valid Child Post-Traumatic Stress Reaction Index (CPTS-RI) is a widely used measure of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in children, it has not been validated in French-speaking populations. The present study aims to assess the psychometric properties of the CPTS-RI in three samples of French-speaking school-children. Data was obtained from three samples. Sample 1 was composed of 106 children (mean (SD) age = 11.7(0.7), 50% females) victims of an industrial disaster. Sample 2 was composed of 50 children (mean (SD) age = 10.8(2.6), 44% females) who had received an orthopaedic surgical procedure after an accident. Sample 3 was composed of 106 children (mean (SD) age = 11.7(2.2), 44% females) admitted to an emergency department after a road traffic accident. We tested internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha. We examined test-retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficient. In order to assess the convergent validity of the French version of the CPTS-RI and the Clinician Administered PTS Scale-Child and Adolescent (CAPS-CA), spearman-correlation coefficient was computed. To verify the validity of the cut-off scores, a ROC curve was constructed which evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of each score compared to the diagnosis with the CAPS-CA. We also used principal components analysis with varimax rotation to study the structure of the French version of the CPTS-RI. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.87 for the French version of the CPTS-RI. Two-week test-retest intraclass correlation coefficient (n = 30) was 0.67. The French version of the CPTS-RI was well correlated with the CAPS-CA (r = 0.76, p < 0.001). Taking the CAPS-CA as the diagnostic reference, with a diagnostic cut-off of >24 for the CPTS-RI, the sensitivity and specificities were 100% and 62.6%, respectively. The French version of the CPTS-RI demonstrated a three-factor structure. The CPTS-RI is reliable and valid in French-speaking children.