Italian International Trauma Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents: Factor structure, measurement invariance, and validity in community and high‐risk samples

Goffredo, Marvita, Costantini, Alessandro, Coppola, Gabrielle, Musso, Pasquale, Simeone, Michele, Bisson, Jonathan I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5170-1243, Cloitre, Marylene, Mancini, Francesco and Barbaro, Maria Grazia Foschino 2026. Italian International Trauma Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents: Factor structure, measurement invariance, and validity in community and high‐risk samples. Journal of Traumatic Stress 10.1002/jts.70125

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Abstract

Complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) is recognized as a distinct diagnosis in the ICD-11. The International Trauma Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ITQ-CA) assesses CPTSD symptoms in youth aged 7–17 years; however, no validated Italian version is currently available. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Italian ITQ-CA in 488 children and adolescents from community (n = 432) and high-risk residential-care (n = 56) samples. Confirmatory factor analyses compared competing models, and measurement invariance was tested across sex assigned at birth, age, and risk status. The correlated second-order posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and disturbances in self-organization (DSO) model was the best-fitting admissible hierarchical solution, CFI = .990, TLI = .986, RMSEA = .045. Reliability was good, ω = .866–.900; ωH = .800–.823; OHC = .947–.952. Approximate or partial measurement invariance supported latent-mean comparisons: Girls and adolescents had higher PTSD and DSO means than boys and younger participants, ΔM = .554–.879, whereas risk groups did not differ, ΔM = −.055–.006. Concurrent and convergent associations were moderate to large, and regression models identified partially differentiated external correlates, R2 = .563–.618. The findings support the factorial validity and reliability of Italian ITQ-CA symptom scores and their use in Italian youth, and future research should examine functional impairment, longitudinal validity, and clinical replication.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Schools > Medicine Research Institutes & Centres > National Centre for Mental Health (NCMH)
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	0894-9867
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	8 September 2026
Date of Acceptance:	27 July 2026
Last Modified:	08 Sep 2026 08:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/189448

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