Description: The Child and Adolescent Trauma Screen (CATS) is a measure of potentially traumatic events and of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). The measure is based on the DSM-5 criteria for PTSD.
Self-report ages: 7-17 years
Pediatric Proxy-report (patient) ages: 5-17 years
The measure consists of 40 items divided into three concepts:
- 1: Items 1-15 assess the number of traumatic events the child has experienced
- 2: Items 16-35 assess the frequency of the child's PTSD symptoms (only appears if at least 1 item from concept 1 is selected)
- 3: Items 36-40 assess psychosocial functioning
Click here to learn more about the CATS.
Scoring: Higher score = higher frequency of PTSD symptoms
Maximum score of 60.
0-15: normal
15-20: moderate risk of trauma related distress
21+: probable PTSD
Scores of 21 or higher indicate clinically relevant symptoms of PTSD.
Only items from the section for frequency of PTSD symptoms are counted towards the score.
Click below to view the CATS versions.