Validation of the Spanish Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form in adolescents with suicide attempts

Front Psychol. 2024 Jul 9:15:1378486. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1378486. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Background: Child maltreatment is associated with a higher probability of mental disorders and suicidal behavior in adolescence. Therefore, accurate psychometric instruments are essential to assess this.

Objective: To validate the Spanish version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF) in adolescents with suicide attempts.

Methods: Multisite cohort study of 208 adolescents with suicide attempts using data from the following scales: Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and CTQ-SF. Statistical analysis: CTQ-SF scores analyzed by descriptive statistics. Internal consistency: McDonald's omega and Cronbach's alpha. Concurrent validity with PHQ-9 and C-SSRS scores: Spearman correlation coefficient. Structural validity: Confirmatory factor analysis.

Results: Floor and ceiling effects: Physical abuse and neglect as well as sexual abuse demonstrated high floor effects (50.0, 35.1, and 61.1% of adolescents, respectively). No ceiling effects were found. The CTQ-SF had excellent internal consistency (McDonald's omega = 0.94), as did the majority of its subscales (Cronbach's alpha 0.925-0.831) except for physical neglect (0.624). Its concurrent validity was modest, and the emotional neglect subscale had the lowest Spearman correlation coefficients (0.067-0.244). Confirmatory factor analysis: Compared with alternative factor structures, the original CTQ-SF model (correlated 5-factor) exhibited a better fit [S-B χ 2 = 676.653, p < 0; RMSEA (90% CI = 0.076-0.097) = 0.087; SRMR = 0.078; CFI = 0.980; TLI = 0.978].

Conclusion: The Spanish CTQ-SF is a reliable, valid instrument for assessing traumatic experiences in adolescents at high risk of suicide. It appears appropriate for use in routine clinical practice to monitor maltreatment in this group.

Keywords: CTQ-SF; adolescent; reliability; suicide attempt; validity.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) (PI19/01027, PI19/00236, PI19/00569, PI19/00685, PI19/00941, PI19/00954, PI19/01027, PI19/01256, PI19/01484, PI20/00229, PI23/01277) integrated into the Plan Nacional de I + D + I and co-financed by the ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and co-financed by the European Union (FEDER, FSE, Next Generation EU/Plan de Recuperación Transformación y Resiliencia_PRTR), the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, the Government of the Principality of Asturias PCTI-2021-2023 IDI/2021/111, the Fundación para la Investigación e Innovación Biosanitaria del Principado de Asturias (FINBA), and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM). The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. AG-F thanks Instituto de Salud Carlos III for its PFIS grant (FI20/00318), and CM-C also thanks the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for its FPU grant (FPU19/01231). IG thanks the following for their support: the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) (PI19/00954) integrated into the Plan Nacional de I + D + I and co-financed by the ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and co-financed by the European Union (FEDER, FSE, Next Generation EU/Plan de Recuperación Transformación y Resiliencia_PRTR); the Instituto de Salud Carlos III; the CIBER of Mental Health (CIBERSAM); and the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca del Departament d’Economia i Coneixement (2021 SGR 01358), CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya as well as the Fundació Clínic per la Recerca Biomèdica (Pons Bartran 2022-FRCB_PB1_2022). AG-P thanks the Instituto de Salud Carlos III for its support, cofinanced by the European Union (FEDER, FSE, Next Generation EU/Plan de Recuperación Transformación y Resiliencia_PRTR) (PI21/00713), and the Basque Government (2022111054).