Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children™ (TSCC™)

J. Briere

The TSCC is a self-report measure of post-traumatic stress and related psychological symptomatology in children ages 8 to 16 years who have experienced traumatic events (e.g., physical or sexual abuse, major loss, natural disaster, or witness violence).

The 54-item TSCC includes two validity scales (Underresponse and Hyperresponse), six clinical scales (Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Post-traumatic Stress, Dissociation, and Sexual Concerns), and eight critical items. The alternate 44-item version (TSCC-A) is identical to the TSCC, except it makes no reference to sexual issues (and has no Sexual Concerns Scale) and includes seven Critical Items.

The comprehensive Professional Manual provides information on test materials, administration, scoring, interpretation, psychometric characteristics, and normative data.

 use the Trauma Symptom Inventory™ (TSI™), and for children ages 3-12 years, use the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children™ (TSCYC™).

Norms

This instrument is suitable for individual or group administration. Item responses on a 4-point scale are entered on the top page of the carbonless test booklet. Item responses are automatically transferred to the scoring page underneath, allowing for easy hand scoring. Profile Forms allow for conversion of raw scores to age- and sex-appropriate T-scores and graphing the results.

The TSCC scales are internally consistent (alpha coefficients for clinical scales range from .77-.89 in the standardization sample) and exhibit reasonable convergent, discriminant, and predictive validity in normative and clinical samples. The TSCC was standardised on a group of over 3000 inner-city, urban, and suburban children and adolescents from the general population.

Data from trauma and child abuse centres are also provided.