Validation of the Davidson Trauma Scale in its original and a new shorter version in people exposed to the F-27 earthquake in Chile

BACKGROUND: On February 27, 2010 (F-27), an earthquake and tsunami occurred having a significant impact on the mental health of the Chilean population, leading to an increase in cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). OBJECTIVES: Within this context, validated for the first time in Chile was the Davidson Trauma Scale (DTS) using three samples (each one consisting of 200 participants), two of them random from the Chilean population. RESULTS: Reliability analyses (i.e., α=0.933), concurrent validity (63% of the items are significantly correlated with the criteria variable “degree of damage to home”) and construct validity (i.e., CMIN = 3.754, RMSEA = 0.118, NFI = 0.808, CFI = 0.850 and PNFI = 0.689) indicate validity between regular and good for DTS. However, a new short version of the scale (DTS-SF) created using the items with heavier factor weights, presented better fits (CMIN = 2.170, RMSEA = 0.077, NFI = 0.935, CFI = 0.963, PNFI = 0.697). DISCUSSION: Finally, the usefulness of DTS and DTS-SF is discussed, the latter being briefer, valid and having better psychometric characteristics.