Trauma Screening Questionnaire (TSQ)

Brewin, 2002

Description

The TSQ is a 10-item symptom screen that was designed for use with survivors of all types of traumatic stress. The TSQ is based on items from the PTSD Symptom Scale - Self Report (PSS-SR; Foa et al., 1993) and has 5 re-experiencing items and 5 arousal items.

Respondents are asked to endorse those items that they have experienced at least twice in the past week. Brewin et al. (2002) considered the screen "positive" when at least 6 items were endorsed. The authors recommended that screening be conducted 3-4 weeks post-trauma to allow for normal recovery processes to take place. Those screening positive should then be assessed with a structured interview for PTSD.

Instructions

Please consider the following reactions which sometimes occur after a traumatic event. This questionnaire is concerned with your personal reactions to the traumatic event which happened to you. Please indicate (Yes/No) whether or not you have experienced any of the following at least twice in the past week.

Sample Items

• Upsetting thoughts or memories about the event that have come into your mind against your will.
• Bodily reactions (such as fast heartbeat, stomach churning, sweatiness, dizziness) when reminded of the event.

References

Brewin, C. R., Rose, S., Andrews, B., Green, J., Tata, P., McEvedy, C., Turner, S., and Foa, E. B. (2002). Brief screening instrument for post-traumatic stress disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 181, 158-162.

Additional Reviews

Brewin, C. R. (2005). Systematic review of screening instruments for adults at risk of PTSD. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 18, 53-62.

To Obtain Scale

Chris Brewin, PhD
Sub-Department of Clinical Health Psychology
University College London
Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Email: c.brewin@ucl.ac.uk

Complete measure is included in journal article.

Measure availability: Information on measures is available to everyone. However, the assessment tools themselves can only be distributed to qualified mental health professionals and researchers. We maintain measures developed by affiliated staff of the National Center for PTSD.