Tools You Can Use: Assessment
Quick guide to practical and empirically-sound assessment tools
Explore each expandable section below to learn about tools to assess Distress, Emotional Support, or Family needs. Or use these quick links to find the tool you need.
Quick Links
Traumatic Stress Symptoms / Reactions / Risk
- Children / Teens:
- Parents:
Psychosocial Needs / Risk Factors / Coping
- Children / Teens:
- Families:
- Other Assessments:
D-E-F Assessment
| NAME OF MEASURE | PURPOSE & DESCRIPTION | REFERENCE(S) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-E-F Provider Assessment Form LANGUAGES: English |
Brief checklist completed by physician, nurse, or social worker. Needs assessment and care planning with hospitalized children. |
N/A: Contact CPTS for more information. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | |
Distress - Screen and Assess Child/Teen Acute Stress,
Posttraumatic Stress, and Pain
| NAME OF MEASURE | PURPOSE & DESCRIPTION | REFERENCE(S) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCREENING MEASURES TO IDENTIFY RISK OF LATER PTSD | |||
| Screening Tool for Early Predictors of PTSD (STEPP) CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it LANGUAGES: English |
12 item screening tool completed by health care provider. Helps identify recently injured children at higher risk for later PTSD. |
Winston et al. (2003). Screening for risk of persistent posttraumatic stress in injured children and their parents. JAMA, 290 (5): 643-649. | |
| Child Traumatic Stress Questionnaire (CTSQ) CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it LANGUAGES: English |
10 item screening tool completed by child or teen. Helps identify recently injured children at higher risk for later PTSD. more |
Kenardy, Spence, & Macleod (2006). Screening for posttraumatic stress disorder in children after accidental injury. Pediatrics, 118: 1002-09. | |
| ASSESS CHILD ACUTE STRESS SYMPTOMS | |||
| Child Stress Disorders Checklist (CSDC) LANGUAGES: English |
35 item checklist completed by parent (or nurse). Assesses acute stress or PTSD symptoms in children or teens. |
Saxe et al. (2003). Child Stress Disorders Checklist: A measure of ASD and PTSD in children. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(8): 972-978. | |
| CSDC-Short Form LANGUAGES: English |
4 item subset of CSDC to be completed by parent (or physician / nurse). Assesses acute stress of PTSD symptoms in children or teens. |
Bosquet, Kassam-Adams, & Saxe (2010). The Child Stress Disorders Checklist-Short Form: A four-item scale of traumatic stress symptoms in children. General Hospital Psychiatry, 32(3): 321-327. | |
| Acute Stress Checklist for Children (ASC-Kids) CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it LANGUAGES: English, Spanish |
29 item self-report checklist. Assesses acute stress reactions in children or teens. More |
Kassam-Adams, N. (2006). The Acute Stress Checklist for Children (ASC-Kids): Development of a child self-report measure. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 19: 129-139. | |
| Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS) LANGUAGES: English |
19 item self-report checklist to assess acute stress reactions in older teens. More |
Bryant, R., Moulds, M., & Guthrie, R. (2000). Acute Stress Disorder Scale: A self-report measure of Acute Stress Disorder. Psychological Assessment, 12(1), 61 - 68. | |
| ASSESS POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYMPTOMS | |||
| Child Stress Disorders Checklist (CSDC) LANGUAGES: English |
35 item checklist completed by parent (or nurse). Assesses acute stress or PTSD symptoms in children or teens. |
Saxe et al. (2003). Child Stress Disorders Checklist: A measure of ASD and PTSD in children. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(8): 972-978. | |
| CSDC-Short Form LANGUAGES: English |
4 item subset of CSDC to be completed by parent (or physician / nurse). Assesses acute stress or PTSD symptoms in children or teens. |
Bosquet, Kassam-Adams, & Saxe (2010). The Child Stress Disorders Checklist-Short Form: A four-item scale of traumatic stress symptoms in children. General Hospital Psychiatry, 32(3): 321-327. | |
| Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) LANGUAGES: English, Spanish, Russian, Armenian, Korean |
24 item self-report checklist. Assesses PTSD symptoms (and impairment) in children or teens. More |
Foa, E., Johnson, K., Feeny, N., & Treadwell, K. (2001). The Child PTSD Symptom Scale: A preliminary examination of its psychometric properties. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 30(3), 376-384. | |
| PTSD Checklist (PCL) LANGUAGES: English, Spanish |
17 item self-report checklist. Assesses PTSD symptoms in older teens. More |
Blanchard, E., Jones-Alexander, J., Buckley, T., & Forneris, C. (1996). Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL). Behavior Research and Therapy, 34(8), 669-673. | |
| ASSESS PAIN | |||
| Faces Pain Scale – Revised LANGUAGES: English, French, and 31 additional languages |
Well-validated self-report scale for children or teens. Assesses pain (disease-related, procedural, surgical/trauma, treatment-related). More |
Hicks CL, von Baeyer CL, Spafford P, van Korlaar I & Goodenough B. (2001) The Faces Pain Scale - Revised: Toward a common metric in pediatric pain measurement. Pain: 93:173-183. | |
Emotional Support – Assess Support and Coping
| NAME OF MEASURE | PURPOSE & DESCRIPTION | REFERENCE(S) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASSESS SUPPORT AND COPING | |||
| Hospital Emotional Support Form LANGUAGES: English |
Brief clinical assessment tool to aid parents in providing coping assistance to child. | N/A | |
| KidCope LANGUAGES: English, German, French, Chinese, Portuguese, |
10 to 15 item self-report checklist. Assesses child coping strategies. |
Spirito A, Stark L, Williams C. (1988). Development of a brief coping checklist for use with pediatric populations. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 13:555-574 Pretzlik U, Sylva K. (1999) Pediatric patients' distress and coping: a self-report measure. . Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1999;81:525-527 |
|
| Coping with Disease (CODI) LANGUAGES: English, Dutch, German, Greek, Swedish, |
29 item self-report checklist. Assesses child coping strategies. |
Petersen, C, Schmidt, S, Bullinger M, et al. (2004). Brief report: Development and pilot testing of a coping questionnaire for children and adolescents with chronic health conditions. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 29: 635-640 | |
Family – Assess Parent's Acute Stress,
Posttraumatic Stress, and Need for Support
| NAME OF MEASURE | PURPOSE & DESCRIPTION | REFERENCE(S) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASSESS NEED FOR PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT | |||
| Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PAT) CONTACT: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it LANGUAGES: English, Spanish |
Comprehensive questionnaire assessing psychosocial risk in families of children newly diagnosed with cancer. Helps identify children and families who would benefit from targeted psychosocial intervention. |
Pai, A., et al. (2008). The Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PAT2.0): Psychometric properties of a screener for psychosocial distress in families of children newly diagnosed with cancer. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 33, 50-62. | |
| ASSESS PARENTS' ACUTE STRESS SYMPTOMS | |||
| Acute Stress Disorder Scale (ASDS) LANGUAGES: English |
19 item self-report checklist. Assesses acute stress reactions in adults. More |
Bryant, R., Moulds, M., & Guthrie, R. (2000). Acute Stress Disorder Scale: A self-report measure of Acute Stress Disorder. Psychological Assessment, 12(1), 61 - 68. | |
| ASSESS PARENTS’ POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS SYMPTOMS | |||
| PTSD Checklist (PCL) LANGUAGES: English, Spanish |
17 item self-report checklist. Assesses PTSD symptoms in adults. More |
Blanchard, E., Jones-Alexander, J., Buckley, T., & Forneris, C. (1996). Psychometric properties of the PTSD Checklist (PCL). Behavior Research and Therapy, 34(8), 669-673. | |




