Abstract
Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is recognized as a distinct diagnosis in the ICD-11. The International Trauma Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ITQ-CA) assesses CPTSD symptoms in youth aged 7–17 years; however, no validated Italian version is currently available. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Italian ITQ-CA in 488 children and adolescents from community (n = 432) and high-risk residential-care (n = 56) samples. Confirmatory factor analyses compared competing models, and measurement invariance was tested across sex assigned at birth, age, and risk status. The correlated second-order posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) model was the best-fitting admissible hierarchical solution, CFI = .990, TLI = .986, RMSEA = .045. Reliability was good, ω = .866–.900; ωH = .800–.823; OHC = .947–.952. Approximate or partial measurement invariance supported latent-mean comparisons: Girls and adolescents had higher PTSD and DSO means than boys and younger participants, ΔM = .554–.879, whereas risk groups did not differ, ΔM = −.055–.006. Concurrent and convergent associations were moderate to large, and regression models identified partially differentiated external correlates, R2 = .563–.618. The findings support the factorial validity and reliability of Italian ITQ-CA symptom scores and their use in Italian youth, and future research should examine functional impairment, longitudinal validity, and clinical replication.
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@article{Goffredo2026,
title = {Italian International Trauma Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents: Factor structure, measurement invariance, and validity in community and high-risk samples},
author = {Marvita Goffredo and Alessandro Costantini and Gabrielle Coppola and Pasquale Musso and Michele Simeone and Jonathan I. Bisson and Marylene Cloitre and Francesco Mancini and Maria Grazia Foschino Barbaro },
editor = {Wiley },
url = {https://apc.it/2026-mancini-italian-international-trauma/},
doi = {doi.org/10.1002/jts.70125},
issn = {1573-6598},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-09-03},
urldate = {2026-09-03},
journal = {Journal of traumatic stress},
pages = {1-12},
abstract = {Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is recognized as a distinct diagnosis in the ICD-11. The International Trauma Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ITQ-CA) assesses CPTSD symptoms in youth aged 7–17 years; however, no validated Italian version is currently available. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Italian ITQ-CA in 488 children and adolescents from community (n = 432) and high-risk residential-care (n = 56) samples. Confirmatory factor analyses compared competing models, and measurement invariance was tested across sex assigned at birth, age, and risk status. The correlated second-order posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) model was the best-fitting admissible hierarchical solution, CFI = .990, TLI = .986, RMSEA = .045. Reliability was good, ω = .866–.900; ωH = .800–.823; OHC = .947–.952. Approximate or partial measurement invariance supported latent-mean comparisons: Girls and adolescents had higher PTSD and DSO means than boys and younger participants, ΔM = .554–.879, whereas risk groups did not differ, ΔM = −.055–.006. Concurrent and convergent associations were moderate to large, and regression models identified partially differentiated external correlates, R2 = .563–.618. The findings support the factorial validity and reliability of Italian ITQ-CA symptom scores and their use in Italian youth, and future research should examine functional impairment, longitudinal validity, and clinical replication.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
