See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267726306

Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC)

Article January 1996

CITATIONS

READS

173

1,700

1 author:
John Briere
University of Southern California
157 PUBLICATIONS 11,763 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE

All in-text references underlined in blue are linked to publications on ResearchGate,

letting you access and read them immediately.

Available from: John Briere

Retrieved on: 17 October 2016

Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children

Briere, J.
1996
Description of Measure
Purpose
To assess the effects of childhood trauma through the childs self-report of trauma symptoms. Although
designed for use with children ages 8-16, the author reports it may also be utilized with 17 year-olds, with
the caution that the wording may be overly simple for this age (Briere, 1996).
Conceptual Organization
The 54-item Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC) consists of two validity scales (Underresponse and Hyper-response), six clinical scales (Anxiety, Depression, Post-traumatic Stress, Dissociation,
Anger, and Sexual Concerns) and eight critical items which examine situations that may require follow -up,
such as suicidality (Briere, 1996; Hunter et al, 2003).
Item Origin/Selection Process
Items were selected based on factor analyses and consultation with experts in the field of psychopathology.
Materials
Forms and manual are available from the publisher.
Time Required
10 minutes
Administration Method
May be self- or interviewer-administered in an individual or group setting. Privacy for respondents is
required.
Training
Interviewers need to be thoroughly familiar with the manual.
Scoring
Score Types (taken primarily from Briere, 1996, and Hunter et al., 2003)
For each item, the child records the frequency with which the statement pertains to her/him on a 4-point
scale ranging from 0 (never) to 3 (almost all the time). Raw scale scores are derived by summing the
response values for all items comprising the scale, and then dividing by the number of items in the scale.
Please see Briere, 1996, for additional information.
Score Interpretation
A higher score reflects greater symptomatology. T scores at or above 65 for any clinical scale are
considered clinically significant.
Norms and/or Comparative Data
The TSCC was normed on 3008 children. See (Briere, 1996).

Psychometric Support
Reliability
The TSCC clinical scales generally demonstrate good internal consistency reliability. See Briere, 1996, for
additional information.
Validity
Results of the TSCC are congruent with those derived from similar measures, including the CBCL and YSR
(Achenbach, 1991) (see Table 3 below), suggesting good concurrent validity. Also, among populations in
which trauma symptomatology is expected to be substantial, including children with histories of abuse,
scores have been high. Among children receiving treatment for traumatic experiences, scores on the TSCC
tend to decrease over time (Lanktree & Briere, 1990; 1995).
LONGSCAN Use
Data Points
Ages 8 (TSCC-Alternate Version), 12, 16
Respondent
Youth
Mnemonic and Version
Item-level dataset: TSA (Age 8), TSCB (Ages 12 & 16)
Scored dataset: TSSS (Ages 8, 12, & 16)
Rationale
LONGSCAN chose to use the TSCC and TSCC-A because they are standardized and valid child self-report
measures of internalized distress, and include symptoms associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Results
Descriptive Statistics
For descriptive statistics of the Ages 8 and 12 Trauma Symptom Checklist, please refer to the 2nd and 3rd
volumes of the measures manuals (Hunter et al., 2003; Knight et al., 2008). Table 1 provides descriptive
statistics for the Age 16 Trauma Symptom Checklist T scores. Similar to Age 12, the percentage of
LONGSCAN children scoring in the clinical range at Age 16 on clinical scales is low (2-4% range across
the T scores presented).
Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for the Age 16 Trauma Symptom Checklist T scores
Overall

N
667

%*
1.9

Anger
M (SD)
43.7 (7.6)

%
2.1

Anxiety
M (SD)
43.7 (7.2)

%
3.7

Depression
M (SD)
44.8 (8.5)

%
1.9

PTSD
M (SD)
43.6 (7.9)

Dissociation
%
M (SD)
2.8
45.1 (8.2)

Gender
Male
Female

313
354

1.2
0.7

43.5 (7.7)
43.9 (7.6)

0.9
1.2

44.0 (7.2)
43.5 (7.3)

1.6
2.1

45.2 (8.9)
44.3 (8.1)

0.9
1.1

44.1 (7.9)
43.2 (7.9)

1.0
1.8

45.2 (8.4)
45.0 (8.1)

Study Site
EA
MW
SO
SW
NW

140
107
87
155
178

0.3
0.1
0.6
0.6
0.3

41.8 (6.8)
44.4 (8.1)
44.6 (9.0)
44.7 (7.9)
43.5 (6.7)

0.4
0.1
0.4
0.9
0.1

41.8 (6.3)
43.2 (5.3)
44.1 (9.1)
45.6 (8.5)
43.7 (6.3)

0.6
0.1
0.6
1.7
0.7

42.6 (7.1)
43.1 (6.1)
45.5 (9.6)
46.9 (10.6)
45.2 (7.6)

0.4
0.1
0.3
0.6
0.4

42.3 (7.1)
42.9 (7.3)
43.8 (9.2)
45.4 (8.7)
43.5 (7.1)

0.6
0.1
0.3
1.2
0.6

43.4 (7.8)
44.1 (6.8)
44.8 (8.8)
47.1 (9.3)
45.4 (7.8)

Source. Based on data received at the Coordinating Center through July 09.
*% represents youth who had a T score that is borderline/clinical (<= 65) at age 16.

Reliability
As can be seen in Table 2, internal consistency for the TSCC scales using the LONGSCAN sample was
good (ranging from .81 to .88) and comparable to alpha reliabilities reported by the author (Briere, 1996).
Table 2. Cronbach Alphas for the Age 16 Trauma Symptom Checklist T scores

Overall

Anger

Anxiety

Depression

PTSD

Dissociation

724

.84

.88

.81

.85

.87

Source. Based on data received at the Coordinating Center through July 09.

Validity
Table 3 provides correlations between the Age 16 Trauma Symptom Checklist T Scores and Age 16 Child
Behavior Checklist (Achenbach, 1991) T Scores. There are significant correlations (ranging from .20 to .33)
between Trauma Symptom Checklist T Scores and CBCL Scores.
Table 3. Correlations between Age 16 Trauma Symptom T Scores and Age 16 CBCL T Scores
Child Behavior Checklist T Scores
Internalizing Problems
Externalizing Problems
Total Problems

Anger

Anxiety

Depression

PTSD

Dissociation

650
650
650

.27***
.33***
.31***

.25***
.22***
.25***

.29***
.26***
.29***

.23***
.23***
.25***

.25***
.20***
.24***

Source. Based on data received at the Coordinating Center through July 09.
* <.05, ** <.01, *** <.001

Publisher Information
Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.
P.O. Box 998
Odessa, FL 33556
(800) 331-TEST
Website: http://www.parinc.com/product.cfm?ProductID=150
References and Bibliography
Achenbach, T.M. (1991) Manual for Child Behavior Checklist/4-18 and 1991 Profile. Burlington, VT:
University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Briere, J. (1996). Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children: Professional Manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological
Assessment Resources, Inc.
Evans, J. J., Briere, J., Boggiano, A. K., & Barrett, M. (1994). Reliability and validity of the Trauma
Symptom Checklist for Children in a normal sample. Paper presented at the San Diego Conference on
Responding to Child Maltreatment, San Diego, CA.
Hunter, W. M., Cox, C. E., Teagle, S., Johnson, R. M., Mathew, R., Knight, E. D., & Leeb, R.T. (2003).
Measures for Assessment of Functioning and Outcomes in Longitudinal Research on Child Abuse.
Volume 1: Early Childhood. Accessible at the LONGSCAN web site
(http://www.iprc.unc.edu/longscan/).
Hunter, W. M., Cox, C.E., Teagle, S., Johnson, R. M., Mathew, R., Knight, E. D., Leeb, R. T., & Smith, J.
B. (2003). Measures for Assessment of Functioning and Outcomes in Longitudinal Research on Child
Abuse. Volume 2: Middle Childhood. Accessible at the LONGSCAN web site
(http://www.iprc.unc.edu/longscan/).
Knight, E. D., Smith, J. B., Martin, L. M., Lewis, T., & the LONGSCAN Investigators (2008). Measures for
Assessment of Functioning and Outcomes in Longitudinal Research on Child Abuse Volume 3: Early
Adolescence (Ages 12-14). Accessible at the LONGSCAN web site
(http://www.iprc.unc.edu/longscan/).

Lanktree, C. B., & Briere, J. (1990). Early data on the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSC-C).
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.
Lanktree, C. B., & Briere, J. (1995). Outcome of therapy for sexually abused children: A repeated measures
study. Child Abuse and Neglect, 19, 1145-1155.