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Çocuk ve Gençlik Psikolojisi Dergisi 2026, Clt. 2(2) 38-67

Turkish Adaptation of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS): Psychometric Evaluation of Child Self-Report and Caregiver Forms Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling and Network Analysis

Fatmanur ÇİMEN, İsmail SEÇER

ss. 38 - 67

Yayın Tarihi: May 24, 2026  |   Görüntüleme Sayısı: 0/0   |   İndirilme Sayısı: 0/0


Özet

In this study, the psychometric properties of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS) were examined in a Turkish sample of children and adolescents exposed to earthquake-related trauma, together with their parents. In addition, the structure of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and the interrelationships among symptoms were investigated using network analysis. The sample consisted of 233 children aged 7–17 years and 254 parents residing in an earthquake-affected region in Türkiye. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM) were conducted to evaluate the factorial validity of the CATS based on both DSM-5 and ICD-11 diagnostic frameworks. Model comparisons indicated that ICD-11–based structures generally demonstrated better fit indices than DSM-5–based structures. Moreover, ESEM models consistently outperformed CFA models across both self-report and caregiver-report forms, suggesting that allowing cross-loadings provided a more realistic representation of the latent symptom structure. In addition, network analysis was applied to examine symptom-level associations in both child and parent reports. Dysphoric Arousal and Re-experiencing symptoms emerged as more central nodes across both networks, whereas Avoidance and Anhedonia-related symptoms were relatively more peripheral. Furthermore, centrality analyses suggested that certain symptoms, particularly hyperarousal-related indicators, played a key role in connecting symptom clusters across both child and parent networks. Overall, the findings support the cross-cultural validity of the CATS in Turkish samples, highlight the superiority of ESEM over CFA in modeling PTSD symptom structure, and underscore the value of a multi-informant approach in understanding PTSD symptom organization following earthquake-related trauma.

Anahtar kelimeler: Traumatized child, CATS, ESEM, network analysis


Bu makaleye nasıl atıf yapılır

APA 7th edition
CIMEN, F., & SECER, I. (2026). Turkish Adaptation of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS): Psychometric Evaluation of Child Self-Report and Caregiver Forms Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling and Network Analysis. Çocuk ve Gençlik Psikolojisi Dergisi, 2(2), 38-67.

Harvard
CIMEN, F. and SECER, I. (2026). Turkish Adaptation of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS): Psychometric Evaluation of Child Self-Report and Caregiver Forms Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling and Network Analysis. Çocuk ve Gençlik Psikolojisi Dergisi, 2(2), pp. 38-67.

Chicago 16th edition
CIMEN, Fatmanur and Ismail SECER (2026). "Turkish Adaptation of the Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS): Psychometric Evaluation of Child Self-Report and Caregiver Forms Using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling and Network Analysis". Çocuk ve Gençlik Psikolojisi Dergisi 2 (2):38-67.

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