Validation of the Japanese Version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-J)

Objective: Facing a surge of child maltreatment reports, Japan has a need for concise assessment tools. Although the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) is accepted internationally as an instrument for childhood maltreatment, its Japanese version has not been validated. The present study examined the validity of the Japanese version of the CTQ (CTQ-J). Method: The CTQ-J was administered to Japanese adolescents in a residential institution (institutionalized group; n = 31) and adolescents without experience of institutionalization (community group; n = 46) from the greater Tokyo area. Analysis of variance was conducted to compare CTQ-J scores among the institutionalized group with documented maltreatment, the institutionalized group without documented maltreatment, and the community group, for the total score and 5 subscale scores. The discrimination of scores assessed by the CTQ-J were calculated using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and identifying documented maltreatment. Results: Internal consistency was "good" to "acceptable" in all subscales (Cronbach's alpha >.74). In each maltreatment type, the institutionalized group with documented maltreatment experiences showed significantly higher CTQ-J scores than did the other groups. The area under the curve showed higher discrimination for the total score of the CTQ-J (0.95) and each subscale (0.98-0.86). Conclusion: This study demonstrated the reliability of the CTQ-J at the "good" to "acceptable" level and supported the criterion validity by identifying documented maltreatment cases in the child welfare records, although careful attention should be paid in its application. Further research is needed to test the CTQ-J's ability to identify less severe form of maltreatment using a more representative sample.