Dari version of international trauma questionnaire-child and adolescent version (ITQ-CA): In a sample of Afghan children and adolescents exposed to trauma

Background

The 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) introduced two related stress disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) which highlights the need for brief and reliable assessment for both adults and youth. The International Trauma Questionnaire – Child and Adolescent Version (ITQ-CA) is the only which assesses both PTSD and CPTSD in children and adolescents in accordance with ICD-11 guidelines, but it has not yet been translated into Dari.

Objective

The aim of this study was to translate and validate the ITQ-CA among Afghan Children and Adolescents Exposed to Trauma.

Method

A sample of 235 trauma-exposed Afghan adolescents completed the ITQ-CA in Dari. Reliability and validity were analyzed using internal consistency, test-retest stability, and confirmatory factor analysis.

Results

The present study results showed that the self-report ITQ-CA in Dari had good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the scale was 0.82) and retest reliability (two-week retest correlation coefficient was 0.71). CFA supported the ICD-11 CPTSD symptom structure as a two-factor model with PTSD and Disturbances in Self-Organization (DSO) as correlated factors with a very good model fit. And the single-factor model also had a good fit.

Conclusion

This study confirms the psychometric properties of the Dari version of the ITQ-CA, which is designed to identify symptoms of PTSD and Disturbance in Self-Organization among children and adolescents. The findings confirm its effectiveness and validity in Dari in this context.