Parent Report of Posttraumatic Symptoms (PROPS)

Abstract

The Parent Report of Posttraumatic Symptoms (PROPS) is a specialized 30-item psychological scale designed to assess the presence and severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in children and adolescents. It functions as a parent or caregiver self-report measure, offering a valuable perspective on the child’s functioning following a traumatic event. Developed primarily by Greenwald and Rubin (1999), the PROPS is a quick and efficient tool, typically requiring only about 10 minutes to complete. It has demonstrated strong psychometrics, making it useful in clinical and research settings for early identification, intervention planning, and monitoring therapeutic progress.

Keywords

PROPS, Parent Report, Posttraumatic Symptoms, PTSD, Child Trauma, Adolescent Assessment, Psychological Scale, Caregiver Report, Child Mental Health.

Authors

Ricky Greenwald, Allen Rubin, Pynoos et al. (Initial conceptual framework).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the PROPS is to provide a reliable and valid means for parents or primary caregivers to report on the trauma-related symptoms exhibited by their children or adolescents. By focusing on observable behaviors and emotional distress, the scale helps clinicians and researchers quantify the impact of a traumatic event on a young person’s emotional and behavioral stability.

The instrument is particularly useful for screening children who may be at risk for developing chronic PTSD and for tracking symptom reduction throughout the course of treatment. Its ease of administration and scoring makes it a practical tool for use in busy clinical environments, supplementing direct child interviews or observer reports.

Construct

The PROPS is designed to measure the core symptom clusters of PTSD as defined by established diagnostic criteria, reported through the lens of the caregiver. The 30 items map onto key features of post-trauma distress, including:

• Intrusion: Recurrent, intrusive thoughts, distressing memories, dreams, or flashbacks related to the trauma.
• Avoidance: Efforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, places, people, or activities that serve as reminders of the traumatic event.
• Negative Alterations in Cognitions and Mood: Changes such as difficulty concentrating, feelings of guilt, withdrawal, loss of interest, and persistent negative emotional states (e.g., sadness or depression).
• Hyperarousal/Reactivity: Symptoms related to increased physiological arousal, including hyper-alertness, difficulty sleeping, irritability, quick temper, and exaggerated startle response.

The scale captures a broad range of these symptomatic manifestations, including physical complaints (e.g., headaches, stomachaches) and relational difficulties (e.g., fighting, clinging to adults), providing a comprehensive overview of the child’s post-trauma functioning.

Validity

The PROPS has demonstrated strong evidence of validity across various studies, supporting its use as a measure of post-traumatic symptoms in youth. Evidence for its validity includes:

• Concurrent Validity: The PROPS scores have been shown to correlate significantly with other established, gold-standard measures of PTSD in children and adolescents, such as the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for Children and Adolescents (CAPS-CA; Foa, Johnson, Feeny, & Treadwell, 2001). This correlation confirms that the PROPS is measuring the same construct as more intensive diagnostic interviews.
• Predictive Validity: Research indicates that higher scores on the PROPS are predictive of subsequent negative outcomes in children and adolescents, including increased academic problems and difficulties in peer relationships. This suggests the scale is effective not just for current assessment but also for identifying children who require preventative intervention.

Reliability

The PROPS exhibits robust psychometric reliability, ensuring that the measure consistently produces stable results over time and across its component items.

• Internal Consistency: The scale demonstrates excellent internal consistency, with a reported Cronbach’s alpha of .90. This high coefficient confirms that the 30 items within the questionnaire are highly interrelated and measure a single, unified construct of post-traumatic stress symptoms.
• Test-Retest Reliability: The PROPS also shows good temporal stability. Studies examining test-retest reliability over a 2-week period have yielded a strong correlation coefficient of .80, indicating that scores remain stable when the underlying symptom severity has not changed.

Factor Analysis

While the initial validation studies by Greenwald and Rubin (1999) focused on preliminary validation, later research, including psychometric testing across multiple cultures, has explored the underlying structure of the PROPS, often aligning with the multi-factor structure of PTSD defined by the DSM (Intrusion, Avoidance, Negative Alterations, and Hyperarousal). The comprehensive nature of the 30 items allows for the examination of distinct symptom clusters, although specific published factor analyses might vary depending on the population studied.

The developers of the PROPS/CROPS scales presented findings on the psychometrics in multiple cultures and translations, suggesting ongoing work to confirm the cross-cultural validity and factor structure of the instrument beyond the initial American samples.

Instrument

Test Type: Screening and severity measure for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms.

Format: 30-item questionnaire completed by a parent or caregiver.

Language Available: Available in English, though its limitations include not being available in all languages globally, despite efforts to develop cross-cultural translations.

Population Group: Clinical and non-clinical populations exposed to trauma.

Age Group: Children and adolescents (typically school-age through adolescence).

Population Details: The measure is designed for parents/caregivers to report symptoms observed in their child following exposure to a traumatic event.

Test Methodology: Self-report format (completed by parent/caregiver). Items are rated on a simple 3-point Likert scale (0=None, 1=Some, 2=Lots). Administration time is approximately 10 minutes.

Keywords

Child trauma assessment, Posttraumatic Stress, CROPS/PROPS, Reliability, Validity, Cronbach’s alpha, Clinical Practice, Psychological Measurement, Caregiver Report.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not provided in source content.

Correspondence Address: Not provided in source content.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 1999 (Year of preliminary validation and publication by Greenwald & Rubin).

Permissions: Users should seek permission directly from the scale developers or the appropriate publishing body (often associated with the authors’ academic affiliations or specialized trauma centers) for clinical or research use.

Fee: Fee structure and licensing details are subject to change and should be confirmed with the copyright holder. The instrument information was found online at the Child Trauma website: http://www.childtrauma.com/publications/child-trauma-measures

Reference’s

The instrument and related research can be found in the following sources:

• Greenwald, R., & Rubin, A. (1999). Brief assessment of children’s post-traumatic symptoms: Development and preliminary validation of parent and child scales. Research on Social Work Practice, 9, 61-75.
• Greenwald, Ricky., Rubin, Allen. (1999). Assessment of Posttraumatic Symptoms in Children: Development and Preliminary Validation of Parent and Child Scales. Research on Social Work Practice, 9(1), 61 – 75.
• Greenwald, R., Rubin, A., Jurkovic, G. J., Wiedemann, J., Russell, A. M., O’Connor, M. B., Sarac, T., Morrell, T. R., & Weishaar, D. (2002, November). Psychometrics of the CROPS & PROPS in multiple cultures/translations. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, Baltimore.
• Greenwald, R., & Rubin, A. (1999). Child Report of Posttraumatic Symptoms and Parent of Posttraumatic Symptoms (CROPS/PROPS). In Fischer, Joel., Corcoran, Kevin J. (2007). Measures for Clinical Practice and research: A sourcebook. (4th ed.). NY. Oxford University Pr. Vol. 1, Page (s): 447-450.
• Fischer, Joel., Corcoran, Kevin J. (2007). Measures for Clinical Practice and research: A sourcebook. (4th ed.). NY. Oxford University Pr. Vol. 1, Page (s) 447-450.

Items of the Parent Report of Posttraumatic Symptoms (PROPS)

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Difficulty concentrating

2. Mood swings

3. Thinks of bad memories

4. Spaces out

5. Feels too guilty

6. Anxious

7. Irrational fears

8. Repeats the same game or activity

9. Clings to adults

10. Avoids former interests

11. Fights

12. Bossy with peers

13. Sad or depressed

14. Hyper-alert

15. Feels picked on

16. Gets In trouble

17. Worries

18. Fearful

19. Withdrawn

20. Nervous

21. Startles easily

22. Irritable

23. Quick temper

24. Argues

25. Secretive

26. Doesn’t care anymore

27. Difficulty sleeping

28. Nightmares or bad dreams

29. Stomachaches

30. Headaches

Scoring: 0= None, 1=Some, 2=Lots