Brief Description
The Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen 2 (CATS-2) Self Report for ages 7-17 is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of post traumatic stress symptoms in children and adolescents based on the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD. Youth are asked to indicate which types of potentially traumatic events they’ve experienced and then rate how often in the past four weeks they have experienced a range of symptoms (e.g., “I feel jumpy or easily startled” or “I try to stay away from people, places, or things that remind me of what happened”) on a scale from “Not at all” to “Almost always.”
Assessment Administration Type
Child/Adolescent Self-Report
Number of questions
45
Age Range for Administration
7-17
Recommended Frequency of Administration
No standardized frequency; Blueprint recommends administering at intake or as clinically indicated during treatment.
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The CATS-2 has 45 total questions and assesses three categories: traumatic events, symptoms (Traumatic Thoughts, Feelings, Problems) related to events in past 4 weeks, and whether these symptoms interfered with the respondent’s life (see Subscales table below).
Subscale | Items | Scoring |
Traumatic Events | 1-15 | 0-1 (“No” or “Yes”), max score of 15. |
Symptoms (Traumatic Thoughts, Feelings, Problems) in the Past 4 Weeks | 16-40 | 0-3 (“Never” to “Almost always”), max score of 60. Note: Items 24–27, 28–29, and 34–35 are scored by taking the highest value in each set. These scores must be manually added to the total. The theoretical maximum score for this subscale once these values are added in, remains 60. |
Interfered With Life | 41-45 | 0-1 (“No” or “Yes”), max score of 5. |
The CATS-2 Symptoms subscale (Items 16–40) includes several clusters of items where the highest score in a set is used for scoring. Blueprint provides a summed total for individual items, but clinicians should adjust this by adding the highest score from each of the following clusters: Items 24–27 (re-experiencing; #9 in original assessment), 28–29 (avoidance, #10 in original assessment), and 34–35 (hyperarousal, #15 in original assessment). These three highest scores from each cluster should be added to the Blueprint-generated Symptom subscale score to calculate the accurate Symptoms subscale score. In other words, the Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Intensity Score = Symptom Subscale Score + 3 highest scores from each cluster.
Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Intensity Score (Symptoms Subscale) | Interpretation |
<15 | Normal. Not clinically elevated. |
15-20 | Moderate trauma-related distress. |
Score ≥ 21 | Elevated distress. Positive Screening threshold. |
Score ≥ 25 | High trauma-related distress. Probable PTSD. |
Blueprint Adjustments
While the original measure has sections of 16 items, 20 items, and 5 items. Blueprint presents all of the original measure’s items from 1-45, instead of splitting them up into 3 sections. Thus, wording of the questions were also slightly modified to provide appropriate instructions for each section. Additionally, Blueprint does not include the assessment’s two open-ended questions due to formatting limitations (the open-ended component of item 15 and item 16 in Traumatic Events section).
“Total score” calculations should be ignored and clinicians can utilize the scoring logic as referenced in the previous section to calculate the posttraumatic stress symptom intensity score, which is based on the Symptoms subscale.
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 10-15 minutes
The CATS-2 can be scored in two ways: dimensional and categorical scoring.
Blueprint supports calculation of dimensional scoring, which is a measure of posttraumatic stress symptom intensity. This score is calculated using the description above.
If desired, the categorical scoring can be calculated independently (see page three for guidance on categorical scoring); categorical scoring can be a helpful tool for determining if DSM-5 criteria are met for diagnosis.
The CATS does not replace a thorough clinical assessment; it is constructed as a screening instrument with emphasis on sensitivity. Children and adolescents with positive results on the CATS should be diagnosed using a semi-structured or structured clinical interview.
Ensure familiarity with mandatory reporting requirements and discuss confidentiality limits prior to administration.
In addition to this assessment there is also a youth self-report, progress assessments, caregiver reports for ages 3-6 and 7-17.
Citation
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