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Development and initial validation of the Odense Child Trauma Screening: a story stem screening tool for preschool and young schoolchildren

Sille Schandorph Løkkegaard
Sille Schandorph Løkkegaard
, 
Mette Elmose
Mette Elmose
 and 
Ask Elklit
Ask Elklit
   | Jun 16, 2021
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Article Category: research-article
Published Online: Jun 16, 2021
Page range: 113 - 126
Received: Oct 08, 2020
Accepted: May 22, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/sjcapp-2021-013
Keywords
© 2021 Sille Schandorph Løkkegaard et al., published by sciendo.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

FIGURE 1.

Flow of participant recruitment
Flow of participant recruitment

Sample characteristics of the children

Risk N = 31; n (%) Community N = 18; n (%)
Gender n (%)
   Male 19 (61.3) 10 (55.6)
   Female 12 (38.7) 8 (44.4)
Age (years)
   Min-max 4.5-8.9 4.5-8.7
   M (SD) 6.6 (1.3) 6.7 (1.2)
Ethnicity
   Caucasian 24 (77.4) 18 (100.0)
   Arabic 3 (9.7) 0 (0.0)
   Asian 1 (3.2) 0 (0.0)
   Mixed 3 (9.7) 0 (0.0)
Diagnosis beforehand n (%)
   No 24 (77.4) 15 (100.0)
   Yes 5 (16.1) 0 (0.0)
Siblings
   Min-max 0-6 0-2
   M (SD) 2.0 (1.9) 1.2 (.6)
Age mother (years)
   Min-max 21-45 31-46
   M (SD) 32.9 (6.4) 38.2 (4.9)
Age father (years)
   Min-max 27-54 34-48
   M (SD) 38.4 (6.3) 39.6 (4.3)
Danish Citizenship n (%)
   Mother 30 (96.8) 15 (100.00)
   Father 30 (96.8) 15 (100.00)
Mother job status n (%)
   Full-time employed 17 (54.8) 11 (73.3)
   Stay-at-home mother 4 (12.9) 2 (13.3)
   Studying / job seeking 6 (19.4) 2 (13.3)
   On sick-leave 4 (12.9) 0 (0.0)
Father job status n (%)
Full-time employed 16 (51.6) 15 (100.0)
   Stay-at-home mother 3 (9.7) 0 (0.0)
   Studying / job seeking 2 (6.5) 0 (0.0)
   On sick-leave 7 (22.6) 0 (0.0)
   In prison 1 (3.2) 0 (0.0)
   Dead 2 (6.5) 0 (0.0)
Mother has a diagnosis n (%) 11 (35.5) 1 (6.7)
Father has a diagnosis 13 (41.9) 0 (0.0)
Parents relationship status
   Married/partners 8 (25.8) 14 (93.3)
   Separated/divorced 18 (58.1) 1 (6.7)
   Never in a relationship 4 (12.9) 0 (0.0)
   Placed in foster care n (%) 5 (16.1) 0 (0.0)

Spearman’s rho correlations between OCTS scales and DIPA and SDQ scales (N = 46)

OCTS total Bike Nightmare Burned hand Stomach ache Animal
DIPA PTSD total .42** .27 .32** .33** .27 .36**
  Re-experience .42** .26 .29** .36** .28 .40**
  Avoidance .28 .13 .26 .16 .17 .20
  Hyperarousal .39** .26 .29** .28 .28 .32**
DIPA MDD .34** .26 .27 .25 .22 .29
DIPA RAD total .31** .19 .36** .22 .21 .28
  Inhibited .24 .14 .27 .12 .17 .32**
  Dishibited .19 .07 .27 .23 .20 .11
SDQ total .41** .31** .26 .33** .29 .41**
SDQ conduct problems .33** .15 .31** .32** .27 .28
SDQ emotional problems .21 .05 .13 .11 .13 .34**
SDQ hyperactivity .39** .43** .16 .33** .29** .27
SDQ Peer problems .30** .26 .19 .29 .07 .33**
SDQ prosocial behavior .09 -.05 .06 -.05 .23 .07

Reliability of the OCTS (N = 49)

Internal consistency Cronbach’s α [95% CI] Items Interrater reliability ICC [95% CI]
Total .95 [.93, .97] 135 .98 [.96, .99]
Bike .85 [.79, .91] 27 .96 [.94, .98]
Nightmare .80 [.70, .87] 27 1.00 [1.00, 1.00]
Burned hand .79 [.69, .86] 27 1.00 [1.00, 1.00]
Stomach ache .84 [.77, .90] 27 1.00 [1.00, 1.00]
Animal .79 [.70, .87] 27 1.00 [1.00, 1.00]

Scores on the OCTS, DIPA, and the SDQ

Scale Risk, N = 31 Community N = 18
Mdn M (SD) Range Mdn M SD Range
OCTS total 4.3 5.03 (2.7) 1.80-11.60 1.9 2.40 (1.9) .20-4.60
   Bike 3 4.03 (3.6) 0-14 1 1.83 (1.6) 0-5
   Nightmare 5 5.47 (3.3) 0-13 2 2.56 (2.5) 0-9
   Burned hand 5 5.30 (3.0) 0-13 2 2.44 (1.8) 0-6
   Stomach ache 5 5.31 (3.6) 0-13 2 2.56 (2.1) 0-7
   Animal 5 4.93 (3.1) 1-12 2 2.61 (2.1) 0-8
DIPA N = 15
   PTSD 7 7.16 (5.0) 0-18 0 0.00 (0.0) 0
   Re-experience 3 3.42 (2.6) 0-8 0 0.00 (0.0) 0
   Avoidance 1 1.48 (1.7) 0-6 0 0.00 (0.0) 0
   Hyperarousal 2 2.26 (1.9) 0-6 0 0.00 (0.0) 0
   MDD 1 3.68 (4.5) 0-15 0 0.00 (0.0) 0
   RAD 1 1.29 (1.1) 0-4 0 .13 (.5) 0-2
SDQ N = 15
   Total difficulties 15 16.06 (6.9) 5-33 4 5.13 (3.2) 1-12
   Conduct problems 3 3.10 (1.7) 0-7 0 .53 (.7) 0-2
   Emotional problems 6 5.45 (2.8) 0-10 0 2.07 (1.9) 0-6
   Hyperactivity 5 5.00 (2.8) 1-9 2 2.20 (2.0) 0-8
   Peer problems 2 2.52 (2.6) 0-9 0 .33 (.8) 0-3
   Prosocial behavior 9 8.23 (1.8) 5-10 9 8.07 (2.5) 2-10

Trauma exposure

Trauma type Risk n (%) Community n (%)
Physical abuse 18 (58.1) 0 (0.0)
Witnessed violence 16 (51.6) 0 (0.0)
Hospitalization or invasive medical procedures 14 (45.2) 8 (53.3)
Sexual abuse 10 (32.3) 0 (0.0)
Accidental burning 4 (12.9) 0 (0.0)
Man-made disasters (fires, wars, etc.) 2 (6.5) 0 (0.0)
Attacked by animal 1 (3.2) 1 (6.7)
Near drowning 1 (3.2) 1 (6.7)
Natural disasters (hurricane, tornado, flood, etc.) 1 (3.2) 0 (0.0)
Traffic accident 0 (0.0) 2 (13.3)
Kidnapped 0 (0.0) 0 (0.00)
Other 19 (61.3) 4 (26.7)
eISSN:
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Language:
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Publication timeframe:
Volume Open
Journal Subjects:
Medicine, Basic Medical Science, other
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