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.

This study addresses lay illness understanding and attributions, including attribution of blame, in wives of myocardial infarction (MI) patients concerning the causes of MI. The present study also investigates the association between illness attributions and emotional adjustment, and the associations of relevant third variables with illness attributions. A sample of 37 wives were interviewed during the acute phase of the illness, three months and 10 years post-index MI. Attributions of the MI to multiple causes were common with an strong emphasis on psychosocial risk factors, but attributional content showed a low consistency over time. In retrospect, the wives believed they could have done more to prevent the MI, but self-blame was not a significant issue. However, they blamed the patient for not taking preventive actions. Attributions were not related to background and illness characteristics or denial in any strong and consistent manner. In a short-term perspective, attributing the MI to stress causes and husbands' personality was associated with worse emotional adjustment. Also, the use of magical explanations and blame of the patient were related to a poorer emotional outcome for the wife. The causal attributions made by the wives during the acute phase did not influence the emotional adjustment after 10 years.

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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