Factorial validity of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in Italian psychiatric patients. (30th November 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Innamorati, Marco; Erbuto, Denise; Venturini, Paola; Fagioli, Francesca; Ricci, Federica; Lester, David; Amore, Mario; Girardi, Paolo; Pompili, Maurizio
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 245(2016)
• Page Start: 297
• Page End: 302
• Publication Date: 2016-11-30
• Subjects: Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.08.044
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Abstract: Early adverse experiences are associated with neurobiological changes and these may underlie the increased risk of psychopathology. The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF) is the most commonly used instrument for assessing childhood maltreatment. Thus, the aim of our study was to investigate the factorial validity of an Italian version of the CTQ-SF in a sample of psychiatric inpatients by means of confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses. The sample was composed of 471 psychiatric in-patients and out-patients (206 males and 265 females) aged 16–80 years (mean age=34.4 years [SD=16.3]) consecutively admitted to two psychiatric departments. All patients were administered the Italian version of the CTQ-SF. We tested five different factor models which lacked good fit, while the exploratory factor analysis supported the adequacy of a solution with three factors (Emotional Neglect/Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Physical Neglect/Abuse). The three factors had satisfactory internal consistency (ordinal Cronbach alphas >0.90). Our study supports results from previous research indicating the lack of structural invariance of the CTQ-SF in cross-cultural adaptations of the test, and the fact that, when measuring different types of childhood maltreatment, the difference between abuse and neglect may be not valid. Highlights: Examined factor validity of the Italian version of the CTQ-SF. Five models previously reported in the literature did not fit the data. The exploratory factor analysis supported a three-factor solution. When using the CTQ-SF the difference between abuse and neglect may be not so clear.