The latent structure of Acute Stress Disorder symptoms in trauma‐exposed children and adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundThe revision of Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) in the DSM‐5 (DSM‐5, 2013) proposes a cluster‐free model of ASD symptoms in both adults and youth. Published evaluations of competing models of ASD clustering in youth have rarely been examined.MethodsWe used Confirmatory Factor Analysis (combined with multigroup invariance tests) to explore the latent structure of ASD symptoms in a trauma‐exposed sample of children and young people (N = 594). The DSM‐5 structure was compared with the previous DSM‐IV conceptualization (4‐factor), and two alternative models proposed in the literature (3‐factor; 5‐factor). Model fit was examined using goodness‐of‐fit indices. We also established DSM‐5 ASD prevalence rates relative to DSM‐IV ASD, and the ability of these models to classify children impaired by their symptoms.ResultsBased on both the Bayesian Information Criterion, the interfactor correlations and invariance testing, the 3‐factor model best accounted for the profile of ASD symptoms. DSM‐5 ASD led to slightly higher prevalence rates than DSM‐IV ASD and performed similarly to DSM‐IV with respect to categorising children impaired by their symptoms. Modifying the DSM‐5 ASD algorithm to a 3+ or 4+ symptom requirement was the strongest predictor of impairment.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that a uni‐factorial general‐distress model is not the optimal model of capturing the latent structure of ASD symptom profiles in youth and that modifying the current DSM‐5 9+ symptom algorithm could potentially lead to a more developmentally sensitive conceptualization.

Social support and acute stress symptoms (ASSs) during the COVID-19 outbreak: deciphering the roles of psychological needs and sense of control

“…These items were rated on a 2-point scale in which 0 represented 'no' and 1 represented 'yes'. DSM-5 ASD show good validity in previous study (McKinnon et al, 2016). In the current study, the questionnaire exhibited good reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86).…”

Cross-cultural investigation of COVID-19 related acute stress: A network analysis

“…The Chinese version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ( American Psychiatric Association, 2014 ) , was translated and collated by the working committee of Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-5 in simplified character Chinese. The DSM-5 criteria in relation to ASS were found to have good validity in a previous study ( McKinnon et al, 2016 ). In the current study, the questionnaire exhibited good reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 0.85).…”

Differential Estimation of Treatment Effect Between Clinician‐Administered and Self‐Reported PTSD Assessments

“…Whereas some researchers have reported strong convergence between C-A and S-R measures for this population (Gillihan, Aderka, Conklin, Capaldi, & Foa, 2013), others have questioned the utility of singular data sources when estimating the presence, severity, and level of functioning associated with pediatric expressions of PTSD (Cohen et al, 2017). This contention appears justified when considering conflicting evidence among samples of children and adolescents related to diagnostic accuracy (You, Youngstrom, Feeny, Youngstrom, & Findling, 2017), rates of agreement between S-R and case record accounts of maltreatment (Negriff, Schneiderman, & Trickett, 2017), and the factor structure used to depict PTSD scores (McKinnon et al, 2016).…”