Establishing and validating a survey for trauma-informed, culturally responsive change across multiple systems

Abstract

AimThe purpose of the present study was to establish and validate the Survey for Trauma-Informed Systems Change (STISC), a measure of culturally responsive trauma-informed care (TIC) and services that can be administered to professionals in any field or industry.Subject/methodsThe current study with 262 respondents from judicial, healthcare, political, non-profit, and for-profit settings examined the internal consistency reliability and factor structure of the STISC.ResultsA total of 262 respondents from various industries accessed the pre-training survey. Seven of the 59 items were reassigned to alternate subscales and three subscales were merged following correlation analysis. Internal consistency reliability for subscales based on the final item assignments was good or excellent (lower 95% confidence limits for hierarchical omega ≥ 0.85). The root mean square error of approximation estimate for the confirmatory factor analysis based on final item assignments was acceptable (0.073; 90% CI 0.071, 0.076). Neither the comparative fit index value of 0.76 nor the Tucker–Lewis fit index value of 0.75 approached conventional thresholds for acceptable fit.ConclusionGiven the absence of a validated alternative, this study supports use of the STISC tool to measure the degree of an individual’s trauma-informed knowledge and positive attitudes toward trauma-informed systems change, as well as trauma-informed practices in the workplace. Further study and refinement will aim to determine whether the STISC survey is sensitive to change, which will provide stronger support for the survey’s potential usefulness as a cost-effective method of standardizing trauma-informed systems change programs across multiple fields and industries.