Acute stress among adolescents and female rape victims measured by ASC-Kids: A pilot study
Sammanfattning
Background: Rape is considered a stressful trauma and often with durable consequences. How
the aftermath of rape is for young adolescents’ girls considering acute stress is an overlooked field
and remains to be studied. Aims: In this study, we wanted to investigate acute stress among
adolescent victims of rape and the psychometric properties of the Acute Stress Checklist for Children
(ASC-Kids). Methods: A clinical sample (n = 79) of raped girls, 13-17 years old who had turned to a
special rape victim unit for treatment, answered the ASC-Kids. ASC-Kids was also given to a group of
minor stressed, non-raped adolescents in the same age range (n = 154) together with the University
of California at Los Angeles Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index (UCLA PTSD RI), and the
Sense of Coherence Scale 13 (SOC-13). Results: The scores from the groups were compared and
showed significant differences in mean values on all the diagnostic criteria of acute stress disorder.
In the clinical group, 36.7% obtained full ASD criteria. ASC-Kids could discriminate well between
groups. Cronbach's alpha was found to be excellent, and the correlation between the UCLA PTSD RI
and ASC-Kids found to be good; both ASC-Kids and UCLA PTSD RI had a good and moderate negative
correlation with SOC-13. Conclusion: Adolescent female rape victims were shown to have a very high
level of acute stress, and the ASC-Kids was found to have sound psychometrics and can be a
valuable screening instrument to support clinicians in their assessments of an indication of
adolescents after potentially stressful events such as rape.