Challenges Related to Assessing Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Children and Adolescents: A Generalizability Theory Study

The aims of the study were: 1) To assess different sources of variation of posttraumatic stress symptoms, and 2) to estimate the generalizability of symptom scores in a multi-facet assessment situation by taking into account different sources of measurement error. The Child PTSD Symptom Scale was administered to a clinical sample of 301 children and adolescents age 10 to 18 who had experienced one or more traumatic events. The facets of observation included raters, clinics, items, and traumatic symptoms clusters. Two perspectives on the conceptualization of the PTSD symptoms were applied. Estimated G-study variance and covariance components did not support the differentiation between the three à priori defined clusters re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyper arousal. The D-study results showed acceptable generalizability and dependability coefficients.