Development and Psychometric Evaluation of a New Assessment Method for Childhood Maltreatment Experiences: The Interview for Traumatic Events in Childhood (ITEC)

• NCJ Number: 228573
• Journal: Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 33 Issue: 8 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 505-517
• Author(s): Jill Lobbestael; Arnoud Arntz; Petra Harkema-Schouten; David Bernstein
• Date Published: August 2009
• Length: 13 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A validation study was conducted of the interview for traumatic events in childhood (ITEC) in order to examine the many different aspects of reliability and validity.

Abstract

The findings provide initial support for the reliability and validity of the interview for traumatic events in childhood (ITEC). Several aspects supported include its factorial validity, internal consistency reliability, convergent and discriminant validity with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and criterion validity with therapists' trauma reports. The findings also provide empirical support for a scoring system that combines objective indicators of maltreatment severity. The ITEC provides broad assessment of maltreatment experiences, including abuse and neglect. The findings suggest that the ITEC is a promising new instrument for brief yet comprehensive assessment of childhood maltreatment. The ITEC is a retrospective trauma interview developed and used in several published studies examining the relationship between childhood trauma and psychopathology. Utilizing two studies, this report presents extensive data regarding the reliability and validity of the ITEC. The first study assessed the factorial structure of the first version of the ITEC, and the second study provides a more extended psychometric assessment of the second version of the ITEC. Tables and references