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Home > Clinical Resources > Child Trauma Assessments > Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen

Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen

Overview

The Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS) questionnaire is a brief, freely accessible screening instrument based on the DSM-5 criteria for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).

Author/Publisher Details

  • The developers are Prof. Lutz Goldbeck (Ph.D.) & Prof. Lucy Berliner (Ph.D.) 
  • The CATS Consortium consists of Prof. Lucy Berliner (Ph.D.), Cedric Sachser (Ph.D.), Elisa Pfeiffer (Ph.D.), Prof. Tine Jensen (Ph.D.), Prof. Elizabeth Risch (Ph.D.), Prof. Rita Rosner (Ph.D.), Prof. Lutz Goldbeck (Ph.D.)
  • Corresponding Author: Cedric Sachser, Ph.D.,  [email protected]

Date

2014

Description

The CATS is based on the DSM-5 and is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The CATS can be administered as a self-report or as an interview and is appropriate for pre-schoolers, children and adolescents. There is a self-report measure for 7-17 year old children/youth, and two caregiver versions; one for 3-6 year old children and one for 7-17 year old children/youth. The younger child version conforms to the DSM-5 3-6 year old PTSD symptom criteria. The interview format may be preferable with younger children or youth with reading comprehension challenges.

The CATS has 15 items measuring traumatic events, 20 items measuring DSM-5 PTSD symptoms, and 5 items measuring psychosocial functioning, and can be administered in approximately 15 minutes.

The CATS is available in several languages, including German, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, Arbabic, Dari, Farsi, Paschtu, Tigrinya, Turkish. Please contact the corresponding author for further information on these translations. 

Access

The measure can be freely accessed by clicking below. There are no copyright or licensing fees associated with the assessment. Feel free to contact the corresponding author for other versions of the CATS. 

Scoring and Interpretation

The CATS is a screening instrument for posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in children and adolescents. A clinical diagnosis of PTSD should not be based on completion of the CATS alone. Positive results on the CATS should be followed up with a semi-structured clinical interview.

To score the CATS, respondents need to verify whether they have experienced at least one potential traumatic event (PTE) (A-criterion). For those without any reported PTE the assessment is finished. Those respondents with at least one endorsed PTE indicate their (child's) most distressing event and rate their (child's) stress symptoms (criteria B, C, D and E) on page 2. Additional items describe any restrictions of functioning in different domains. The 4-point symptom response scales indicate the reported frequency/severity of each symptom. There are differences in calculating the scores for children from age 7 and adolescents vs. preschool children (see below).

Using the DSM-5 algorithm:
You can use the stop light sheet or scoring sheet to guide you through the process.

Using the total symptom score:
The determination of preliminary cutoff scores was done based on an estimation derived from the validation of a previous DSM-IV based questionnaire (see below).   
  • Ages 3-6: The total symptom score is calculated by summing up the items 1-16 (possible range = 0-48). We recommend to use a cut-off ≥ 16 as indication of a clinically relevant level of symptoms in preschool children.
  • Ages 7-17: A total symptom score is calculated by summing up the raw scores of items 1-20 (possible range = 0-60). We recommend to use a cut-off ≥ 21 as indication of a clinically relevant level of symptoms.
  • Include scoring for total scores and subscale scores as well as information on diagnostic or severity cut offs (if any).

Psychometrics

An international validation study (Sachser et al., 2017) proved good to excellent reliability with α ranging between .88 and .94. The convergent-discriminant validity pattern showed medium to strong correlations with measures of depression (r = .62–.82) and anxiety (r = .40–.77) and low to medium correlations with externalizing symptoms (r = −.15–.43) within informants in all language versions. Using CFA the underlying DSM-5 factor structure with four symptom clusters (reexperiencing, avoidance, negative alterations in mood and cognitions, hyperarousal) was supported (n = 475 for self-report; n = 424 for caregiver reports).

Key/Core References   
  • Sachser, C., Berliner, L., Holt, T., Jensen, T. K., Jungbluth, N., Risch, E., ... & Goldbeck, L. (2017). International development and psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS). Journal of affective disorders, 210, 189-195.
    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28049104/
  • Nilsson, D., Dävelid, I., Ledin, S., & Svedin, C. G. (2020). Psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS) in a sample of Swedish children. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 1-10.  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08039488.2020.1840628
  • Akkuş, P. Z., Serdaroğlu, E., Kömürlüoğlu, A., Asena, M., Bahadur, E. İ., Özdemir, G., ... & Özmert, E. N. (2021). Screening traumatic life events in preschool aged children: cultural adaptation of Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS) Caregiver-report 3-6 years version. Turkish Journal of Pediatrics63(1).  http://www.turkishjournalpediatrics.org/abstract.php?id=2262

Manual   

Administration of the CATS should be conducted as a clinical encounter. The CATS may be part of routine assessment procedures and/or occur at a later point with the assigned clinician. It may be used as a stand-alone screening or be part of a larger assessment and clinical interview. The Clinical Guide for administering the CATS is available here