Validation of the “Darryl” PTSD cartoon test with abused children

Darryl version	Sexual abuse α	Physical abuse α	Physical abuse Mean (SD)	Sexual abuse Mean (SD)	Combined abuse Mean (SD)
Total scale	.90	.87	12.260 (7.443)	13.850 (8.102)	17.50 (9.196)
Re-experiencing subscale	.86	.77	4.153 (3.106)	4.663 (3.295)	6.333 (4.097)
Avoidance subscale	.77	.69	4.549 (2.979)	4.813 (3.171)	6.750 (2.927)
Hyperarousal subscale	.88	.67	3.557 (2.647)	4,375 (3.070)	4.667 (3.172)

Percentage frequency and mean scores of PTSD symptom items and somatization items in the Darryl (n = 327).

	Frequency (%)			Boys (n = 152)		Girls (n = 175)
Score	Never 0	Some of the time 1	Most of the time 2	Mean	SD	Mean	SD	t	p	Cohen’s d
Re-experiencing symptoms
Intrusive recollections	23.2	46.2	30.6	.969	.728	1.149	.727	-2.004	.046	.222
Play re-enactment of the trauma	84.7	11.9	3.4	.230	.521	.149	.416	1.576	.116	.175
Nightmares in general	39.4	42.2	18.3	.625	.708	.931	.724	-3.864	<.001	.428
Nightmares about the trauma	57.8	32.1	10.1	.415	.624	.617	.700	-2.744	.006	.304
Acting/recurring feeling as if the event is	51.1	34.6	14.4	.553	.689	.703	.745	-1.894	.059	.209
Psychological distress at reminders	56.6	28.4	15.0	.467	.699	.686	.757	-2.713	.007	.299
Physiological distress at reminders	56.0	31.2	12.8	.441	.688	.680	.712	-3.087	.002	.341
Avoidance symptoms
Avoidance of thoughts and feelings	19.6	37.9	42.5	.1.237	.778	1.223	.736	.166	.868	.018
Avoidance of people and activities	48.3	31.8	19.9	.651	.783	.771	.769	-1.395	.164	.155
Inability the event to recall important aspects of	38.5	38.8	22.6	.868	.795	.817	.743	.600	.549	.067
Loss of interest in usual activities	63.3	26.9	9.8	.309	.612	.600	.687	-4.028	<.001	.445
Detachment/social withdrawal	67.6	22.6	9.8	.290	.583	.709	.054	-3.466	<.001	.379
Restricted range of affect	61.2	29.4	9.5	.467	.690	.642	.049	-.406	.685	.045
Sense of foreshortened future	60.2	25.7	14.1	.480	.709	.744	.056	-1.346	.179	.149
Hyperarousal symptoms
Difficulty sleep initiating and/or sustaining	39.4	29.7	30.9	.783	.797	.854	.065	2.690	.008	.297
Irritability	45.6	33.3	21.1	.697	.789	.771	.058	-1.252	.212	.139
Decreased concentration	42.8	37.3	19.9	.625	.744	.751	.057	-3.284	.001	.364
Hypervigilance	46.8	33.9	19.3	.605	.756	.761	.056	-2.655	.008	.294
Exaggerated startle response	55.4	26.0	18.7	.507	.737	.800	.060	-2.778	.006	.306
Somatization
Stomachache	44.3	41.0	14.7	.579	.646	.746	.056	-3.020	.003	.332
Headache	53.8	33.0	13.1	.533	.699	.719	.054	-1.436	.152	.159

Pearson’s r correlations between the total scale and subscales of the Darryl test and subscales of Beck Youth Inventory.

	PTSD Total		Re-experiencing		Avoidance		Hyperarousal
	r	p	r	p	r	p	r	p
BYI-II Depression (n = 112)	.526	<.001*	.313	<.001*	.550	<.001*	.502	<.001*
BYI-II Anxiety (n = 113)	.495	<.001*	.381	<.001*	.450	<.001*	.440	<.001*
BYI-II Anger (n = 109)	.496	<.001*	.318	<.001*	.482	<.001*	.486	<.001*
BYI-II Disruptive behavior (n = 104)	.241	.012*	.158	.104	.285	.003*	.188	.057
BYI-II Self-concept (n = 112)	-.203	.032*	-.090	.348	-.260	.006*	-.176	.064

Pearson’s r correlations between total scale and subscales of the Darryl test and the SDQ Total Difficulties scale and subscales parent report version (n = 63).

	PTSD Total		Re-experiencing		Avoidance		Hyperarousal
	r	p	r	p	r	p	r	p
SDQ Total Difficulties	.196	.013*	.091	.476	.200	.117	.234	.084
Emotional problems	.284	.024*	.188	.141	.252	.046*	.317	.011*
Conduct problems	.148	.248	.116	.391	.107	.402	.177	.164
Hyperactivity	.125	.330	.050	.695	.161	.208	.122	.342
Peer Problems	.001	.996	-.084	.513	.039	.760	.057	.658
Prosocial behavior	.061	.633	.078	.539	-.012	.924	.098	.446
Impact scale (n = 59)	.241	.066	.070	.601	.275	.035*	.301	.020*

Referral reasons across gender.

	Total		Male		Female
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Sexual Abuse	58	17.7	15	10.1	43	25.9
Physical abuse	238	72.8	126	84.5	112	67.5
Polyvictimization	19	5.8	8	5.4	11	6.6
Missing	12	3.7
Total	327	100	149	100	166	100

eISSN:: 2245-8875
Language:: English

Publication timeframe:: Volume Open
Journal Subjects:: Medicine, Basic Medical Science, other

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Validation of the “Darryl” PTSD cartoon test with abused children

Article Category: Research Article

Published Online: Feb 28, 2023

Page range: 1 - 9

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/sjcapp-2023-0001

Keywordsyoung children, trauma, abuse, cartoon test, validation

© 2023 Sille Schandorph Løkkegaard, Camilla Jeppesen, Ask Elklit, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Internal consistencies (Cronbach’s α) for the total scale and subscales of the Darryl for the version for sexual abuse and the version for physical abuse. Also, means and SD on the Darryl scales for the two abuse types and combined abuse.

Percentage frequency and mean scores of PTSD symptom items and somatization items in the Darryl (n = 327).

Pearson’s r correlations between the total scale and subscales of the Darryl test and subscales of Beck Youth Inventory.

Pearson’s r correlations between total scale and subscales of the Darryl test and the SDQ Total Difficulties scale and subscales parent report version (n = 63).

Referral reasons across gender.

Keywords
young children, trauma, abuse, cartoon test, validation