Psychometric evaluation of age- and culture-appropriate Hindi trauma-related questionnaires for children and adolescents.

BACKGROUND

Given India's high rates of trauma exposure and mental health service shortages, age- and culture-appropriate self-report tools may enhance detection and treatment of trauma-related symptoms in low-resource settings. This study psychometrically evaluated Hindi versions of three trauma-related questionnaires: the Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13), the Child Post-Traumatic Cognitions Inventory (CPTCI), and the Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children (DSRS-C), that were adapted for children and adolescents in previous research.

METHODS

A total of 305 Hindi-speaking participants aged 6-18 completed the questionnaires online. Confirmatory factor analyses and Cronbach's alpha were conducted to evaluate the internal structure and internal consistency of the questionnaires, and Pearson's correlations were computed to evaluate their convergent validity.

RESULTS

The CRIES-13 best fits a three-factor model, the CPTCI a two-factor model, and the DSRS-C a two-factor model. Internal consistency was acceptable to excellent across scales, except for the Arousal subscale of the CRIES-13. Convergent validity was supported by moderate to strong intercorrelations and associations with trauma exposure indices.

CONCLUSIONS

The adapted Hindi instruments are psychometrically promising tools for assessing trauma-related symptoms among Indian youth that could inform the diagnosis and treatment of trauma-exposed populations. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.