Psychometric Properties of the Traditional Chinese Version of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths-Trauma Comprehensive

King-Chi Yau, Siu-Mei Chan
2021 East Asian Archives of Psychiatry  
To determine the internal consistency, construct validity, and scaling properties of the traditional Chinese version of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths-Trauma Comprehensive (TC-CANS-Trauma). 66 male and 62 female children, adolescents, and young adults aged 3 to 22 years who were referred to trauma treatment service were selected by convenience sampling. The original English version of the CANS-Trauma was translated to traditional Chinese by a medical professional, back-translated
more » ... o English by a clinical psychologist, and then cross-checked by another psychologist to ensure consistency. Chinese wordings were adjusted to maintain the conceptual rather than literal meaning. Participants were assessed using the TC-CANS-Trauma as well as the traditional Chinese version of the Life Events Checklist (LEC), the Children's Impact of Event Scale-Revised (CHIES-R), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Impact Component (SDQ-Impact), and the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC). Internal consistency of eight primary domains of the TC-CANS-Trauma was evaluated by Cronbach's alpha. Construct (convergent and divergent) validity of five of these domains with the LEC, the CHIES-R, the SDQ-Impact, and the PSOC was assessed. Rasch modelling was used to evaluate the scaling properties of the eight primary domains of the TC-CANS-Trauma. Internal consistency of the eight primary domains of the TC-CANS-Trauma was satisfactory, with Cronbach's alpha ranging from 0.63 to 0.90. Construct (convergent and divergent) validity of five of these domains with the LEC, the CHIES-R, the SDQ-Impact, and the PSOC was good. In Rasch modelling, most TC-CANS-Trauma domains showed good item separation values. Infit and outfit statistics of most domain items were <2 indicating good item fitness in their respective domains. For person separation, all domains of the TC-CANS-Trauma did not have a sufficient discriminability to identify high and low performers. The TC-CANS-Trauma is valid for comprehensive assessment of trauma-related domains among Hong Kong children and adolescents. Its ratings can be used to guide the levels of clinical intervention required. Clinicians are recommended to implement the TC-CANS-Trauma to facilitate trauma-informed practice in Hong Kong.
doi:10.12809/eaap1967 pmid:34987116 fatcat:dxtbuzvitjh6zjjzjynxrtt2na