Ongoing research on the assessment of children’s health has led to the development of a large number of quantitative tools. The Child Health Questionnaire—Parent Form (CHQ-PF) is a set of questionnaires aimed at measuring different facets of children’s health as perceived by their parents. The present multi-trait multi-sample study tested the validity and the reliability of the 50-item version of the CHQ with families (N = 1095) living in contexts of low-intensity warfare. The validation procedures implemented (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, convergent validity, and reliability testing) yielded a new, shorter version of the questionnaire (CHQ-PF-25). We discuss the potential of using the CHQ-PF-25 in Arabic-speaking crisis contexts and the limitations of the present study.
BehlingOLawKS (2000) Translating Questionnaires and Other Research Instruments: Problems and Solutions. London: Sage Publications.
3.
BentlerPM (1990) Comparative fit indexes in structural models. Psychological Bulletin107(2): 238–246.
4.
BetancourtTS (2011) Attending to the mental health of war-affected children: the need for longitudinal and developmental research perspectives. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry50: 323–325.
5.
BetancourtTSKhanKT (2008) The mental health of children affected by armed conflict: protective processes and pathways to resilience. International Review of Psychiatry20: 317–328.
6.
BetancourtTSMeyers-OhkiMSECharrowMAP. (2013) Interventions for children affected by war: an ecological perspective on psychosocial support and mental health care. Harvard Review of Psychiatry21: 70.
7.
BollenJVan de SompelHHagbergA. (2009) A principal component analysis of 39 scientific impact measures. PLoS ONE4: e6022.
8.
BoyntonPMGreenhalghT (2004) Selecting, designing and developing your questionnaire. British Medical Journal328: 1312–1315.
9.
ByrneBM (2004) Testing for multi-group invariance using AMOS Graphics: a road less traveled. Structural Equation Modeling11: 272–300.
10.
CarrAMcNultyM (2016) The Handbook of Adult Clinical Psychology: An Evidence Based Practice Approach. London: Routledge Group.
11.
CarterB (2014) Advancing health and well-being through children’s rights. Journal of Child Health Care18: 205–206.
12.
ChenFF (2007) Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal14: 464–504.
ColemanPKKarrakerKH (1998) Self-efficacy and parenting quality: findings and future applications. Developmental Review18: 47–85.
15.
CronbachLJ (1961) Essentials of Psychological Testing, 2nd ed. New York: Harper and Row.
16.
CrowneDPMarloweD (1960) A new scale of social desirability independent of psychopathology. Journal of Consulting Psychology24: 349–354.
17.
CummingsEMMerrileesCETaylorLK. (2017) Developmental and social–ecological perspectives on children, political violence and armed conflict. Development and Psychopathology29: 1–10.
18.
DartonRA (1980) Rotation in factor analysis. The Statistician29: 167–194.
19.
DenzinNK (2012) Triangulation 2.0. Journal of Mixed Methods Research6: 80–88.
20.
DevakumarDBirchMRubensteinLS. (2015) Child health in Syria: recognising the lasting effects of warfare on health. Conflict and Health9: 34.
21.
DyregrovAKuterovacGBarathA (1996) Factor analysis of the impact of event scale with children in war. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology36: 339–350.
22.
EbesutaniCSmithABernsteinA. (2011) A bi-factor model of negative affectivity: Fear and distress components among younger and older youth. Psychological Assessment23: 679–691.
23.
GilbertMSkaikS (2013) Patient flow and medical consequences of the Israeli operation Pillar of Defence: a retrospective study. The Lancet382: S13.
24.
GouveiaVVTacianoLMilfontTL. (2009) Life satisfaction in Brazil: testing the psychometric properties of the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) in five Brazilian samples. Social Indicators Research90: 267–277.
25.
HairJBlackWBabinB. (2009) Multivariate data Analysis, 6th ed. Uppersaddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
26.
HairJFBlackWCBabinBJ. (2010) Multivariate Data Analysis. A Global Perspective, 7th ed. Uppersaddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
27.
HuLBentlerPM (1999) Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling6: 1–55.
28.
HullmannSERyanJLRamseyRR. (2011) Measures of general pediatric quality of life. Arthritis Care and Research63: 420–430.
29.
JuddCJessorRDonovanJ (1986) Structural equation models and personality research. Journal of Personality54: 149–198.
30.
KallinaHHartmanA (1976) Principal component analysis versus classical factor analysis. Psychogische Beitrage18: 84–98.
31.
KlineRB (2005) Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, 2nd ed. New York: Guilford Press.
32.
KlineRB (2010) Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling, 3rd ed. New York: Guilford Press.
33.
KohrtBAJordansMJTolWA. (2011) Validation of cross-cultural child mental health and psychosocial research instruments: adapting the Depression Self-Rating Scale and Child PTSD Symptom Scale in Nepal. BMC Psychiatry11: 127.
34.
LandgrafJMAbetzLWareJE (1996) The CHQ user’s Manual, 1st ed. Boston, MA: The Health Institute, New England Medical Center.
35.
MachelG (2009) Children and Conflict in a Changing World: Machel Study 10-year Review. New York: UNICEF.
36.
MastenAS (2017) Building a translational science on children and youth affected by political violence and armed conflict: a commentary. Development and Psychopathology29: 79–84.
37.
MatsunagaM (2010) How to factor analyze your data right: do’s, don’ts and how to. International Journal of Psychological Research3: 97–110.
MillerKEJordansMJ (2016) Determinants of children’s mental health in war-torn settings: translating research into action. Current Psychiatry Reports18: 58.
40.
MorinAJSMarshHWNagengastB (2013) Exploratory structural equation modeling. In: HancockGRMuellerOM (eds) Structural Equation Modeling: A Second Course, 2nd ed. Charlotte, CN: Information Age Publishing, pp. 395–436.
41.
NeillSJ (2005) Research with children: a critical review of the guidelines. Journal of Child Health Care9: 46–58.
PepeAAddimandoLVeroneseG (2017) Measuring teacher job satisfaction: assessing invariance in the teacher job satisfaction scale (TJSS) across six countries. Europe’s Journal of Psychology13(3): 396–416.
44.
PodsakoffPMMacKenzieSBLeeJY. (2003) Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology88: 879–903.
45.
RaatHMohangooADGrootenhuisMA (2006) Pediatric health-related quality of life questionnaires in clinical trials. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology6: 180–185.
46.
RaykovT (1997) Estimation of composite reliability for congeneric measures. Applied Psychological Measurement21: 173–184.
47.
TabachnickBGFidellLS (2013) Using Multivariate Statistics, 6th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.
48.
TelmanMDOverbeekMMde ShipperJC. (2016) Family functioning and children’s post-traumatic stress symptoms in a referred sample exposed to inter-parental violence. Journal of Family Violence31: 127–136.
49.
TolWAKomproeIHJordansMJD. (2014) School-based mental health intervention for children in war-affected Burundi: a cluster randomized trial. BMC Medicine12: 56. DOI:/1741–7015/12/56.
VeroneseGCastiglioniMSaidM (2010) The use of narrative-experiential instruments in contexts of military violence: the case of Palestinian children in the West Bank. Counselling Psychology Quarterly23: 411–423.
52.
VeroneseGCastiglioniMBarolaG. (2012) Living in the shadow of occupation: Life satisfaction and positive emotion as protective factors in a group of Palestinian school children. Children and Youth Services Review34: 225–233.
53.
VeroneseGPepeA (2013) Psychometric properties of IES-R, short Arabic version in contexts of military violence. Research on Social Work Practice23: 710–718.
54.
VeroneseGPepeA (2017a) Positive and negative affect in children living in refugees camps: assessing the psychometric proprieties and factorial invariance of the PANAS-C in the Gaza Strip. Evaluation and the Health Professions40: 3–32.
55.
VeroneseGPepeA (2017b) Using the posttraumatic growth inventory—short form with Palestinian helpers living in conflict areas. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. In press.
56.
VeroneseGPepeA (2017c) Life satisfaction and trauma in clinical and non-clinical children living in a war-torn environment: A discriminant analysis. Journal of health psychology. Article published ahead of print on July, 20, 2017. DOI: 1359105317720004.
57.
VogtWP (2005) Dictionary of Statistics and Methodology: A Nontechnical guide for the Social Sciences, 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
58.
YongAGPearceS (2009) A beginner’s guide to factor analysis: focusing on exploratory factor analysis. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology9: 79–94.
59.
WatersESalmonLWakeM (2000) The parent-form child health questionnaire in Australia: comparison of reliability, validity, structure and norms. Journal of Pediatric Psychology25: 381–391.
60.
WatersESalmonLWakeM. (2001) The child health questionnaire in Australia: reliability, validity and population means. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health24: 207–210.
61.
WatsonDClarkLATellegenA (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology54: 1063–1070.
62.
WestendorpTVerbuntJARemerieSC. (2014) Responsiveness of the child health questionnaire-parent form in adolescents with non-specific chronic pain or fatigue. European Journal of Pain18: 540–547.
63.
WorthingtonRLWhittakerTA (2006) Scale development research: a content analysis and recommendations for best practices. Counseling Psychologist34: 806–838.
