Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / This study investigated the factor analytic structure of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire(CTQ) in school-going adolescents in the greater Cape Town area. This questionnaire is a retrospective method, assessing childhood exposure to trauma in the form of emotional abuse,physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect and physical neglect (Bernstein & Fink,1998). The data used originated from a survey where several questionnaires including the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire were used to examine perceived stress and resilience in adolescence. The primary study found that there is extensive published research on trauma exposure in adolescents. However, the investigators found that there is a lack of research on actual perceived stress in the context of certain traumatic experiences. This study examined one of the questionnaires used in the primary study, the CTQ. The question of how the factors cluster in a sample of 631participants between the ages of 11 and 18 was answered by using exploratory factor analysis. Three factor analyses, using principal component analysis and Varimax rotation with Kaiser Normalisation were run. The three factor analyses are (i) the entire sample (adolescents, both trauma exposed and non trauma–exposed) (ii) the sample with moderate/severe childhood trauma and (iii) the sample with mild/no childhood trauma.The results of the current study revealed that for group one, five rotated factors were yielded that accounted for 59.22% of the variance among items, for group two, eight rotated factors was extracted that accounts for 62.47% of the variance among items and for group three, nine rotated factors which accounted for 65.38% of variance among the items was yielded.After conceptual analysis, it was found that only group two held to the five-factor stucture described in the CTQ's manual. This indicates that the severity of trauma exposure does affect the factor structure of the CTQ in this sample of school-going adolescents.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / The outcome of child abuse, i.e. physical, emotional and/or sexual, and child neglect is multifactorial. The severity, duration and nature of abuse and the child’s vulnerabilities are all contributory factors with regards the outcome of abuse. Children who are traumatized are likely to be profoundly affected. Studies have shown and nearly every researcher agrees that early childhood traumas lie at the root of many emotional and psychological illnesses. It has been noted that drug abuse is a major problem in the Western Cape. This thesis explored the relationship between subjectively perceived childhood trauma and drug dependence in an in-patient treatment-seeking sample of adults in the Cape Town Metropolitan Area in the Western Cape. This thesis presents the results of a measure of childhood trauma, namely the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire [CTQ] and a measure of drug dependence, the Drug Use Disorder Identification Test [DUDIT]. The sample consisted of 52 participants and included both males and females. Only participants who were identified as drug dependent were included in the study. Patients who were actively psychotic and/or alcohol dependent were not included in the study. Ethical clearance was obtained from the University of the Western Cape’s higher degree ethical committee. The anonymity of the participants, the importance of responding openly and honestly and the sensitive nature of the questions were highlighted during the test administration. Questionnaires were administered in accordance with the guidelines stipulated in the respective manuals. The data was analysed through correlation. The study found a positive correlation between childhood emotional abuse and drug dependence, and childhood physical abuse and drug dependence.