[An evaluation of a Hungarian questionnaire to assess childhood adversities: A pilot study].

BACKGROUND

Detection of childhood traumas is important both in clinical practice and in research. There is a pressing need for methods that are relatively simple but comprehensive, non-intrusive, and possess adequate psyc - ho metric properties. In this study we translated one of the most widely used and well-studied measure of childhood abuse and neglect and explored the psychometrical properties of this questionnaire.

METHODS

The study was based on data from a clinical (N=171) and a normative (N=358) sample. In total 529 adults participated in the testing process. Beside the trauma questionnaire Parental Bonding Inventory, Impact of Events Scale and Dissociative Experiences Scale were administered.

RESULTS

We examined the internal consistency of the translated trauma questionnaire. The Cronbach's a coefficients for the five subscales ranged from 0,639 to 0,934. Participants in the clinical sample reached higher scores on all trauma subscales except sexual abuse, than normative adults [PA: t (398)=-2,771; p=0,006; PN: t (398)=-5,990; p=0,000; EA: t (398)=-3,679; p=0,000; EN: t (398)=-4,759; p=0,000; total score: t (398)=-4,669; p=0,000]. Correlations among the trauma questionnaire total score and the scales of Parental Bonding Inventory indicating some medium effects (with maternal care: r=-0,661; p=0,000; with paternal care: r=-0,483; p=0,000).

CONCLUSION

Our preliminary findings suggest that this trauma questionnaire is practical and facilitates the systema - tic evaluation of adverse early life events and maximizes the possibility of detecting childhood abuse and neglect.