Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Jul 2021)
Evaluation on Long-Term Test–Retest Reliability of the Short-Form Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in Patients with Schizophrenia
Abstract
Zhibiao Xiang1 12 23 3, Zhening Liu1 12 23 3, Hengyi Cao4 45 5, Zhipeng Wu1 12 23 3, Yicheng Long1 12 23 3 1Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 2Mental Health Institute of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 3China National Clinical Research Center on Mental Disorders, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 4Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Hempstead, NY, USA; 5Division of Psychiatry Research, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, NY, USACorrespondence: Yicheng Long Email [email protected]: Many studies have reported an association between childhood trauma exposure and schizophrenia. Among these studies, the Short-form Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF) is one of the most widely used measures of childhood trauma. However, little is known regarding the long-term reliability of the CTQ-SF, especially in patients with psychopathology.Methods: The CTQ-SF was administered to 50 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia from a hospital in Changsha, Hunan, China. These patients were asked to re-complete the CTQ-SF when they were re-hospitalized or received outpatient treatments in the same hospital within 4 years of follow-up. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess test–retest reliability of the CTQ-SF over the intervals. Associations of the CTQ-SF with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) were tested using Spearman correlation coefficients.Results: Among the participants, 35 (70.0%) patients re-completed the CTQ-SF after an interval averaging 11.26 months. Excellent test–retest reliabilities (with ICC > 0.75) were found for the total CTQ-SF score (ICC = 0.772) as well as scores of the emotional abuse (ICC = 0.808), physical abuse (ICC = 0.756), sexual abuse (ICC = 0.877) and physical neglect (ICC = 0.751) subscales. Meanwhile, a moderate test–retest reliability was found for the emotional neglect subscale (ICC = 0.538). At both baseline and follow-up, no significant correlations (p > 0.05) were found between CTQ-SF scores and any other clinical assessments.Conclusion: Our results suggest that CTQ-SF is reliable to assess childhood trauma exposures in schizophrenia over relatively long intervals, regardless of patients’ current symptoms and states of cognition.Keywords: childhood trauma questionnaire, childhood adversity, childhood trauma, schizophrenia, test–retest reliability
