The Harvard Trauma Questionnaire

1992/02/01 by Richard F. Mollica, RICHARD F. MOLLICA, YAEL CASPI-YAVIN +7 · 1,487 citations
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Clinical psychology #Culturally sensitive #History #Medicine #Migration, Health and Trauma #Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research #Posttraumatic stress #Psychiatry #Psychology #Racial and Ethnic Identity Research #Refugee #Social psychology #Torture

paper · doi:10.1097/00005053-199202000-00008

published in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 180(2), 111-116 (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins)

openalex publication_date 1992/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

There are no valid and reliable cross-cultural instruments capable of measuring torture, trauma, and trauma-related symptoms associated with the DSM-III-R diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Generating such standardized instruments for patients from non-Western cultures involves particular methodological challenges. This study describes the development and validation of three Indochinese versions of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ), a simple and reliable screening instrument that is well received by refugee patients and bicultural staff. It identifies for the first time trauma symptoms related to the Indochinese refugee experience that are associated with PTSD criteria. The HTQ's cultural sensitivity may make it useful for assessing other highly traumatized non-Western populations.

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