A psychometric evaluation of the parent version of the children’s revised impact of event scale (CRIES): screening for post-traumatic stress disorder in Dutch children aged 3 to 7 years

Background: For the prevention and reduction of potentially harmful effects of childhood trauma, systematic screening for PTSD is a useful first step. Recently, the parent-reported versions of the widely used Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-P13/8) were evaluated with promising results in children aged 8–18 years. The present study psychometrically evaluated these tools as screeners for PTSD in 96 very young children (3–7 years) in the Netherlands. Methods: In addition to the CRIES-P13/8, the Diagnostic Infant and Preschool Assessment (DIPA) was administered to the parents of children exposed to trauma. Psychometric evaluation of the CRIES-P13/8 comprised structural validity, reliability, and criterion validity. Results: The bi-factor confirmatory factor analyses yielded generally poor fit, unidimensionality was established (≥ 0.87), internal consistency was sufficient (≥ 0.85). The demonstrated screening characteristics show that the CRIES-P13/8 differentiates reliably between children with and without (sub-threshold) PTSD as assessed by the Diagnostic Infant and Preschool Assessment (DIPA). Conclusions: The CRIES-P13/8 are adequate screeners, also in young children. In addition to the small number of items, this makes the CRIES-P13/8 a practical screener in the clinical and research setting. For each version, three cut-off scores are suggested, for full PTSD as well as subthreshold PTSD.