A revised and expanded version of the Turkish childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ-33): overprotection-overcontrol as additional factor

Abstract

This study was concerned with a culture-sensitive revision of the Turkish version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-28) and expansion of the instrument through integration of a dimension assessing overprotection - overcontrol (OP-OC). Participants (n = 783) were 37 dissociative and 78 non-dissociative and non-psychotic psychiatric outpatients, and 668 non-clinical people. They completed the revised and expanded version of the CTQ, Dissociative Experiences Scale, Beck Depression Scale, and Relationship Scales Questionnaire. A test-retest assessment was conducted on 25 non-clinical individuals. Among twenty-one alternative and the twenty-five original statements, the items of subsections were selected by correlations between item and item deleted total scores for each subset of original and alternative statements. The 33-item final version (CTQ-33) included five statements for each subsection including OP-OC and three denial items. The principal component analysis on items of the CTQ-33 with a varimax rotation yielded six factors including OP-OC. The inner consistency and the test-retest reliability were good. OP-OC correlated particularly with emotional abuse and neglect, and other types of trauma. There were significant correlations between CTQ-33 and depression, dissociation, and fearful attachment scores. The CTQ-33 differentiated psychiatric from non-clinical groups. The Turkish CTQ-33 is a reliable and valid instrument. OP-OC by caregivers may be as traumatic as other types of childhood adversities. Cross-cultural research would illuminate the significance of OP-OC beyond Turkish culture. The possibility of intergenerational transmission of trauma through OP-OC by fearful parents in and after times of cultural upheaval and political oppression should be considered for future research.