International Trauma Questionnaire with Clinical Checks (ITQ-CC)

The International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ) is the most widely used measure of ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD. The ITQ is used for many purposes, including estimating prevalence rates of these disorders in the general population and clinical samples. ​

 

Researchers interested in estimating prevalence rates have generally had two measurement options—self-report or structured interview assessments—and these methods commonly produce discrepant prevalence estimates. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Self-reports are quick, cheap, easy-to-use, and benefit from individuals reporting on their own phenomenological experience. However, respondents may interpret questions or statements incorrectly, and their responses cannot be checked by a trained interviewer. Structured clinical interviews are time consuming, costly, and difficult to use (especially in large epidemiological studies), and rely on an interviewer's interpretation of a respondent's description of their internal experience. However, the major benefit of this assessment method is that a trained interviewer can answer questions and clarify confusions the interviewee may have. We wondered if it would be possible to develop a new assessment method that captures the best elements of both of these approaches.

 

Thus, we developed the idea of embedding 'clinical checks' in self-report measures. Clinical checks are follow-up questions to self-report scale items that check whether respondents understood the intended clinical meaning, intensity, or duration elements of the scale item. Clinical checks are intended to increase confidence in prevalence estimates derived from self-report measures by reducing the likelihood of false positive cases. ​ We believe that adding simple clinical checks can achieve much of the benefits of structured interviews while maintaining all the benefits associated with self-report measures. The development paper can be obtained by clicking on the citation below, and the ITQ with Clinical Checks can be downloaded by clicking on the relevant description. ​

​​​

Please click on the version of the ITQ-CC that you would like:

ITQ with Clinical Checks_English

 

Translations are in development and will be uploaded as they become available. 

​

Key Publication:

Shevlin, M., Hyland, P., Brewin, C. R., Cloitre, M., Karatzias, T., & Redican, E. (2025). Testing the use of ‘clinical checks’ with the International Trauma Questionnaire to measure PTSD and complex PTSD. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.