Brief Description
The Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen - Caregiver Report (3-6) [CATS-Parent (3-6)] is a caregiver-report measure to assess for potentially traumatic events and of post traumatic stress symptoms in children ages 3-to 6-year-old based on the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD. It is used as a screener, followed up by the CATS-Progress-Parent. Respondents rate if their child has experienced various traumatic events on a “Yes/No” scale and if so, how often the child experiences the post traumatic stress symptoms listed (e.g., “Having bad dreams related to a stressful event”) on a scale from “Never” to “Almost always”.
Assessment Administration Type
Caregiver-report
Number of questions
36
Age Range for Administration
3-6
Recommended Frequency of Administration
Screener
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The CATS-Parent (3-6) contains 36 questions and assesses 3 categories: traumatic events, symptoms related to events in past 2 weeks, and whether these symptoms interfered with their child’s life (see Subscales table below). A total score is calculated by summing the item responses in the Symptoms subscale (Items 16-31) and ranges from 0 to 48; higher scores are associated with higher levels of, or more severe, traumatic experiences and post traumatic stress symptoms. Scores of 16 or greater are considered clinically significant.
Subscales
Subscale | Items | Scoring |
Traumatic events | 1-15 | 0-1 (No/Yes), max score of 15 |
Symptoms over past 2 weeks | 16-31 | 0-3 (Never-Almost always), max score of 48 |
Interfered with Functioning | 32-36 | 0-1 (No/Yes), max score of 5 |
Blueprint Adjustments
Blueprint’s CATS-Parent (3-6) has 36 questions, while the original measure has sections of 15 items, 16 items, and 5 items. Blueprint presents all of the original measure’s items from 1-36, instead of splitting them up into 3 sections. Thus, wording of the questions were also slightly formatted to provide appropriate instructions for each section. The total score displayed in Blueprint is the Symptoms subscale total score, ranging from 0-48.
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 8-12 minutes
The CATS does not replace a thorough clinical assessment; it is constructed as a screening instrument with emphasis on sensitivity. Children and adolescents with positive results on the CATS should be diagnosed using a semi-structured or structured clinical interview.
In addition to the caregiver-report for ages 3-6, there are caregiver reports for ages 7-17 and youth self-reports for ages 7-17. There are also CATS-Progress assessments, which are briefer and used to track symptoms over the course of treatment.
Citation
Relevant Articles + Further Resources
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