Psychometric properties and confirmatory factor analysis of the Children's Impact of Event Scale-Revised (CHIES-R) for child survivors of road traffic accidents in Hong Kong.

Objective: This study examined the psychometric properties of the Children's Impact of Event ScaleDSRevised.Participants and Methods: Sixty one children (aged 8 to 17 years) who attended the hospital accidentand emergency service after road traffic accidents participated in the study. The Children's Impact ofEvent ScaleDSRevised, Children's Depression Inventory, and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scalecompleted by the children 1 month after the road traffic accidents were studied.Results: A 3-factor structure accounting for 72% of the variance was identified for the 11-item Children'sImpact of Event ScaleDSRevised. The test-retest reliability was satisfactory; the moderate correlationsbetween the Children's Impact of Event ScaleDSRevised scores (i.e. intrusion, avoidance, and hyperarousal),Children's Depression Inventory, and Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale supported the validityof the Children's Impact of Event ScaleDSRevised as a measure of post-traumatic stress in children. Resultsof the confirmatory factor analysis support generalisation of the post-traumatic stress disorder frameworkfor the present sample of Chinese children.Conclusions: The 11-item Children's Impact of Event ScaleDSRevised has satisfactory psychometricproperties as a screening instrument for stress responses after traumatic incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]