Validation of the multiple language versions of the Reactions of Adolescents to Traumatic Stress questionnaire

✍ Scribed by Tammy Bean; Ilse Derluyn; Elisabeth Eurelings-Bontekoe; Eric Broekaert; Philip Spinhoven

• Book ID: 102448505
• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 156 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-9867
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.20093

✦ Synopsis

The objective of this study was to assess the preliminary psychometric properties of the Reaction of Adolescents to Traumatic Stress questionnaire (RATS) for refugee adolescents. Four independent heterogeneous adolescent population samples (N = 3,535) of unaccompanied refugee minors, immigrants, and native Dutch and Belgian adolescents were assessed at school. The confirmatory factor analyses, per language version, support the three-factor structure of intrusion, avoidance/numbing, and hyperarsoual. The total and subscales of the RATS show good internal consistency and good (content, construct, and criterion) validity. The RATS, in this study, was found to be a reliable and valid instrument for assessing posttraumatic stress reactions of culturally diverse adolescents.

After experiencing a terrifying event, it is normal for adolescents to exhibit stress reactions or problem behavior. Experiencing one or more stressful life events such as a catastrophic disaster (Green et al.