A Proposal for Evaluating Psychosocial Trauma

• Published in: Psicothema 2021-10, Vol.33 (4), p.631-638
• Main Authors: Villagran, Loreto, Blanco, Amalio, Olea, Julio, Bilbao, Marian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Trauma; Validity; Violence
• ISSN: 0214-9915; 1886-144X
• DOI: 10.7334/psicothema2021.160

Background: The objective of the study was to design and validate the Psychosocial Trauma Scale (ETAPS) for assessing psychosocial consequences of collective violence. This instrument proposed the following dimensions: Pre-traumatic Situation, Destruction of Fundamental Beliefs, Intergroup Emotions, and Family and Community Destruction. Method: A total of 382 people participated who had been affected by political violence: civil war in El Salvador, forced displacement from Colombia and state violence from Chile. The study had three phases: (1) content validity of the items evaluated by experts; (2) exploratory factor analysis to study the structure of ETAPS, reducing the number of items; (3) convergent (post-traumatic stress symptomatology) and divergent (psychological and social well-being) validity. Results: The EFA showed that ETAPS had a slightly different internal structure from that proposed. The dimensions found were Pre-traumatic Situation and Intergroup Emotions along with two new emerging dimensions: Destruction of Sociality and Personal and Collective Self-Efficacy. Divergent and convergent validity gave expected results except for the pre-traumatic situation. Conclusions: The ETAPS dimensions show that the effects of violence are broader than the symptoms measured by clinical scales. An instrument with adequate psychometric properties was obtained which will be useful for future studies in the area. Keywords: Psychosocial Trauma; political violence; PTSD phenomenology; Prisoners; War/armed conflict as civilian. El Trauma Psicosocial: una Propuesta Para su Evaluacion. Antecedentes: el objetivo del estudio fue el diseno y validacion de la Escala de Trauma Psicosocial (ETAPS) para evaluar consecuencias psicosociales de la violencia colectiva. Este instrumento propuso las dimensiones: Situacion Pre-traumatica, Destruccion de Creencias Fundamentales, Emociones Intergrupales, y Destruccion Familiar y Comunitaria. Metodo: participaron 382 personas afectadas por violencia politica: guerra civil en El Salvador, desplazamiento forzado de Colombia y violencia estatal de Chile. El estudio contemplo tres fases: (1) validez de contenido de los items evaluado por expertos; (2) analisis factorial exploratorio para estudiar la estructura de ETAPS, reduciendo el numero de items; (3) validez convergente (sintomatologia de estres postraumatico) y divergente (bienestar psicologico y social). Resultados: el AFE mostro que la ETAPS tenia una estructura interna que di