Adverse Childhood Events Turkish Form: validity and reliability study

Objective: Aim of this study is to demonstrate the reliability and validity of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Questionnaire. Methods: This research was carried out with 50 patients who consulted in Davranis Bilimleri Enstitusu. The participants were aged between 18 and 65 years with no current alcohol and substance abuse, no mental retardation, no organic mental disorder. Participants were assessed with the socio-demographic data form, the Adverse Childhood Experience Turkish Form (ACE-TR) and the Symptom Assessment-45 Questionnaire (SA-45). On the statistical analysis, item-total score correlation coefficients, internal consistency coefficient and correlation values with other scales were calculated. Results: The mean age of the study population was 33.77 +/- 13.24 years and 48% (n=24) of the sample group were female and 52% (n=26) were males. The Cronbach's alpha value of the total score of the scale was 0.742, which indicates that it has a consistency reliability of 74%. The single component solution was obtained as the result of the principal components analysis. Correlations between ACE-TR and SA-45 sub-components were statistically significant. Conclusion: Results demonstrated that the Adverse Childhood Experience Turkish Form (ACE-TR) was a valid and reliable instrument, which may serve as a screening tool for childhood trauma in large populations.