Validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the City Birth Trauma Scale (CityBiTS)

Abstract

The City Birth Trauma Scale (CityBiTS) was developed to be consistent with the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-DSM-5. It has been used as a complementary instrument that measures the psychological trauma related to childbirth. The aim of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the CityBiTS. This research is a methodological study. This study was conducted with 315 women who had 6-month-old infants from August to October 2018. The CityBiTS is a 29-item instrument that was developed according to DSM-5 criteria to assess childbirth-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Test–retest measurements were performed at two-week intervals to evaluate the invariance of the scale over time. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability was used to analyse internal consistency of scale. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were .76 for re-experiencing symptoms, .57 for avoidance symptoms, .77 for negative cognitions and mood, .83 for hyperarousal and .82 for dissociative symptoms. In conclusion, The Turkish version of the CityBiTS, as an instrument developed to be consistent with DSM-5 criteria in assessing childbirth-related trauma symptoms, is a valid and reliable tool.

Impact statement

• What is already known on this subject? One of the possible barriers for this is the lack of validated questionnaires that measure the postpartum PTSD.

• What do the results of this study add? The aim of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the CityBiTS. The City Birth Trauma Scale has good psychometric properties and the two symptom clusters identified are consistent with previous research on symptoms of postpartum PTSD.

• What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The City Birth Trauma Scale provides with a measure of birth-related PTSD foruse in research and clinical practice.

Keywords:

• Validity
• reliability
• birth
• PTSD
• trauma

Acknowledgements

The authors thankful to the women who kindly agreed to participate in this study, and be interviewed, the experts who shared their valuable views with us, as well as Marmara University Scientific Research Coordination Unit. The study was approved by the Marmara University Ethical Committee of Health Sciences Institute (Date: 05.02.2018, Number:41).

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest involved in the conduct of the study.

Additional information

Funding

The study was supported within the base Project (Project No: SAG-A-110618-0290, 2018) by Marmara University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit.