Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Publication Title

Assessment

Abstract

Research on the developmental consequences of early adversity has grown rapidly, yet measures of childhood adversity have not kept pace with evolving theoretical models. Existing measures often lack comprehensive assessment and psychometric evidence. This study addresses these gaps by developing the Deprivation and Threat—Adult Self-report (DT-AS) measure, a psychometrically sound scale assessing childhood threat and deprivation exposure, evaluated in young adults. Psychometric analysis was performed in waves on a total sample of N=796 participants. Pilot data (n1=210; n2=208) were analyzed using Classical Test Theory (CTT) and Item Response Theory (IRT) to refine item selection andoptimize response formats. The final sample (n3=378) confirmed a correlated factor structure of threat and deprivation with excellent psychometric properties. DT-AS consists of 33 items measuring threat and 30 measuring deprivation, offering a robust tool to examine associations between childhood adversity and psychopathology outcomes in adulthood.

Keywords

early adversity, threat, deprivation, assessment, psychometric, psychopathology

First Page

1

Last Page

16

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911251367142

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Rights

©The Authors (2025)

Version

Version of Record

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.