The Childhood Trauma Screener (CTS) - Development and Validation of Cut-Off-Scores for Classificatory Diagnostics

Objectives: Childhood abuse and neglect are associated with worse physical and mental health outcomes. There is some evidence, that the CTS is a brief and valid screening tool. To support the application of the CTS for categorical diagnostics cut-offs will be identified and validated. Methods: Based on two large-scale population studies suitable cut-off-scores for the different dimensions of childhood abuse and neglect were identified due to comparable case identification rates in the CTS compared with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. The cut-off-scores were validated with respect to depression as an external criterion. Results: Suitable cut-off-scores were identified for all subscales in both samples. The cases and non-cases according to the cut-off-scores differed significantly regarding the severity of depressive symptoms and the prevalence of depression. Good to very good sensitivity and specificity of the CTS-items and the related subscales of the CTQ are shown, except for the dimension "physical neglect". Conclusion: With the help of the cut-off-scores it is possible to use the CTS for categorical diagnostics, especially in large-scale studies with two-step diagnostic approaches.