International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume 14, Issue 10, 2017

Development and preliminary validation of refugee trauma history checklist (RTHC)-a brief checklist for survey studies (Article) (Open Access)

Sigvardsdotter E.* , Nilsson H. , Malm A. , Tinghög P. , Gottvall M. , Vaez M. , Saboonchi F.
  • a Department of Health Sciences, The Swedish Red Cross University College, Huddinge, 14121, Sweden
  • b Department of Health Sciences, The Swedish Red Cross University College, Huddinge, 14121, Sweden, Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden, Swedish Red Cross Center for Persons Affected by War and Torture, Malmö, 20121, Sweden
  • c Department of Health Sciences, The Swedish Red Cross University College, Huddinge, 14121, Sweden, Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden, Swedish Red Cross Center for Persons Affected by War and Torture, Malmö, 20121, Sweden
  • d Department of Health Sciences, The Swedish Red Cross University College, Huddinge, 14121, Sweden, Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden
  • e Department of Health Sciences, The Swedish Red Cross University College, Huddinge, 14121, Sweden, Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 75236, Sweden, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, 75236, Sweden
  • f Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden
  • g Department of Health Sciences, The Swedish Red Cross University College, Huddinge, 14121, Sweden, Division of Insurance Medicine, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, 17177, Sweden

Abstract

A high proportion of refugees have been subjected to potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs), including torture. PTEs, and torture in particular, are powerful predictors of mental ill health. This paper reports the development and preliminary validation of a brief refugee trauma checklist applicable for survey studies. Methods: A pool of 232 items was generated based on pre-existing instruments. Conceptualization, item selection and item refinement was conducted based on existing literature and in collaboration with experts. Ten cognitive interviews using a Think Aloud Protocol (TAP) were performed in a clinical setting, and field testing of the proposed checklist was performed in a total sample of n = 137 asylum seekers from Syria. Results: The proposed refugee trauma history checklist (RTHC) consists of 2 × 8 items, concerning PTEs that occurred before and during the respondents’ flight, respectively. Results show low item non-response and adequate psychometric properties Conclusion: RTHC is a usable tool for providing self-report data on refugee trauma history surveys of community samples. The core set of included events can be augmented and slight modifications can be applied to RTHC for use also in other refugee populations and settings. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Author Keywords

population study Self-report instrument Refugees Trauma checklist trauma

Index Keywords

male Young Adult female Humans Psychological Trauma refugee psychotrauma questionnaire checklist middle aged psychology Surveys and Questionnaires mental health human adult Refugees Torture
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85030997854&doi=10.3390%2fijerph14101175&partnerID=40&md5=6606db5867ba80c1b9ab7107f05ffcef
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14101175
ISSN: 16617827
Cited by: 3
Original Language: English