Psychometric evaluation of the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI) in female survivors of sexual assault

ABSTRACT

The authors of this study evaluated the factor structure, internal consistency, and concurrent and discriminant validity of the Posttraumatic Cognitions Inventory (PTCI; Foa et al. 1999) in a sample of 107 female survivors of sexual assault with a mean age of 29.1 years (SD = 7.7). All participants were recruited between July 2010 and December 2014 from a care center for sexual assault victims in Madrid, Spain. Results supported the three-factor structure of the PTCI: (1) negative cognition about self, (2) negative cognition about the world, and (3) self-blame. The negative cognitions about self and the world subscales showed adequate internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.92 and 0.82, respectively), as well as good concurrent and discriminant validity. Nevertheless, the subscale measuring self-blame showed poor internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.75) and discriminant validity. The PTCI presents sound psychometric characteristics and has the potential to contribute to women’s sexual posttrauma assessment.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessment
• posttraumatic cognition
• sexual assault
• women