Abstract
Objective: This study validates the Tamil version of Impact of Event Scale among adolescents. Method: IES was translated into Tamil and 100 adolescents attending an adolescent clinic who had been exposed to diverse traumatic events completed the Impact of Event Scale along with the Child Behaviour Checklist. Appropriate analyses both at the item and scale levels were conducted. Results: In addition to adequate face and content validity, the scale has satisfactory internal consistency (α from 0.77 to 0.90), moderate convergent validity with CBCL‐PTSD scale (r from 0.22 to 0.29), and high discriminant validity with PTSD‐thought problem subscale (r = 0.01–0.10). Factor analysis replicated the two‐factor structure, avoidance factor (five items) and intrusion factor (three items), explaining 68.4% of variance. A threshold IES score of 17 was associated with 93% sensitivity and 85% specificity. Conclusions: The Tamil IES for adolescents has satisfactory psychometric properties and should be useful in international studies as well as clinical care.