Psychometric Evaluation of the English Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5–Child and Adolescent Version (CAPS-CA-5)

OBJECTIVE: Despite its widespread use for diagnosing and assessing the severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among youth, psychometric evaluation of the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents - DSM-5 (CAPS-CA-5) is limited to Portuguese- and Japanese-translated versions. Accordingly, the present study examined the reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility of the CAPS-CA-5 in an English-speaking, U.S. sample of trauma-exposed youth enrolled in the Texas Childhood Trauma Research Network (TX-CTRN). METHOD: A total of 3,134 trauma-exposed youth and young adults aged 8-20 completed an assessment battery in English comprising semi-structured diagnostic interviews and measures of acute stress symptoms, externalizing symptoms, depressive symptoms, resilience, and suicidality. The CAPS-CA-5 was administered at baseline and one-month follow-up. RESULTS: Consistent with the original CAPS-CA, internal consistency was adequate-to-strong for the total score and all subscales except Avoidance, and test-retest reliability was strong. The CAPS-CA-5 evidenced convergent validity with a positive PTSD screen on the MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview for Children and Adolescents and with acute stress symptoms. Externalizing symptoms, depressive symptoms, resilience, and suicidality all evidenced discriminant validity with the CAPS-CA-5. Cutoff scores were evaluated using Receiver Operating Curves and diagnostic utility was supported through the ability of the CAPS-CA-5 to differentiate categories of functional impairment, which varied by age and sex. CONCLUSIONS: This study, the first to provide psychometric support for the English version of the CAPS-CA-5 in a U.S. sample, contributes to a growing body of literature supporting the CAPS-CA-5 as a psychometrically valid PTSD interview across a range of nationalities and languages.