Abstract

Objectives The purpose of the present study was to investigate some psychometric characteristics of Secondary Trauma Questionnaire (STQ) in the wives of warfare victims. Methods Children of warfare victims living in Yazd, Esfahan, Shiraz, and Ahvaz and studying at Shahed and Isargar Schools of present in these cities in 2011-12 academic year were the target population for this study. Of this population, 379 subjects were selected by cluster sampling method. Secondary Trauma Questionnaire (STQ), Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS), Mississippi PTSD Scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) were used to collect the data. Confirmation factor analysis, Pearson correlation, and independent samples t-test were used to analyze the data. Results Findings of confirmation factor analysis revealed that STQ, similar to the one approved by the developers of this scale had a one-factor structure in Iranian samples. Face validity of STQ using item impact method and content validity of this scale using Content Validity Index (CVI) and Content Validity Ratio (CVR) were confirmed. There were significantly high correlations among the STQ scores of participants and STSS, PTSD Scale, and DASS that approved the convergent validity of the scale (P<0.01). By using STQ, we were able to discriminate the group of subjects with high mental health from those with low mental health (discriminant validity). Conclusion The Farsi version of secondary trauma scale was valid and reliable for the wives of Iranian warfare victims.