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The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire--Short Form (CTQ-SF) is widely used to measure childhood abuse of all types. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the instrument. The participants constituted four subsamples (n = 517): substance abusers (n = 126), psychiatric patients (n = 210), prisoners (n = 109) and adolescents in out-of-home placements (n = 72). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a reasonable fit of the data to the original five-factor structure of the CTQ-SF. Measurement invariance was found across gender and the four subsamples. It was concluded that the Norwegian version of the CTQ-SF has acceptable psychometric properties, with good reliability and satisfactory accuracy, to assess different dimensions of childhood trauma.

The present study aims to review empirical research focusing on traumatic events and posttraumatic stress among children and adolescents in out-of-home placement and identify future directions for research. A search in PsychInfo, ISI, and PubMed for the period 1985-2010 and use of citation alerts from 2006 to 2010 yielded 27 studies meeting our inclusion criteria. The included studies applied a diversity of assessment instruments and methods. Only six studies reported when the traumatic event(s) had occurred and/or time of assessment posttrauma. The studies comprised two main categories of traumatic events: war related trauma and sexual/physical abuse. There was a male majority exposed to studies focusing on war-related trauma, and studies on sexual trauma had a female majority. Studies on war-related trauma included foster children from Africa and Asia, whereas studies on abuse trauma included mainly North American samples. The review reflects a scarcity of empirical studies with a trauma perspective in this vulnerable population.

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