CHILD AND ADOLESCENT TRAUMA SCREEN 2 (CATS-2)
SELF REPORT (7-17 YEARS)NAM E: _____________ _______ DATE: ______________
Stressful or scary events happen to m any people. Below is a list of stressful and scary events thatsometim es happen. Mark YES if it happened to you. Mark NO of it didn’t happen to you.
YESNO

1. Serious natural disaster like a flood, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, or fire.

OO

2. Serious accident or injury like a car/bike crash, dog bite, or sports injury.

OO

3. Threatened, hit or hurt badly in my family.

OO

4. Threatened, hit or hurt badly in school or the community.

OO

5. Attacked, stabbed, shot at or robbed by threat.

OO

6. Seeing someone in my family threatened, hit or hurt badly.

OO

7. Seeing someone in school or the community threatened, hit or hurt badly.

OO

8. Someone doing sexual things to me or making me do sexual things to them when I couldn’t say no. Or when I
was forced or pressured.

OO

9. On line or in social media, someone asking or pressuring me to do something sexual. Like take or send pictures.

OO

10. Someone bullying me in person. Saying very mean things that scare me.

OO

11. Someone bullying me online. Saying very mean things that scare me.

OO

12. Someone close to me dying suddenly or violently.

OO

13. Stressful or scary medical procedure.

OO

14. Being around war.

OO

OO

15. Other stressful or scary event?
Describe:________________________________________________________________________________________
16. Which event(s) are bothering you the most?
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Turn the page and answer the next questions about all the scary or stressful events that happened
to you.

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CATS 7-17 VERSION 2.0 (SACHSER ET AL., 2022)|

Mark 0, 1, 2 or 3 for how often you had the following thoughts, feelings, or problems in thelast four weeks: 0 = Never / 1 = Sometimes / 2 = Often / 3 = Almost always
1. Upsetting thoughts or memories about what happened pop into my head.

0123

2. Bad dreams reminding me of what happened.

0123

3. Pictures in my head of what happened. Feels like it is happening right now.

0123

4. Feeling very upset when I am reminded of what happened.

0123

5. Strong feelings in my body when I am reminded of what happened (sweating, heart beatingfast, upset stomach).

0123

6. Trying not to think about what happened. Or to not have feelings about it.

0123

7. Staying away from anything that reminds me of what happened (people, places, things,
situations, talks).

0123

8. Not being able to remember part of what happened.

0123a. I won’t have a good life.

01

23b. I can’t trust other people.

0

1

23c.

The world is unsafe.

01

23d. I am not good enough.

01

23a. Blaming myself for what happened.

0123b. Blaming someone else for what happened although it wasn’t their fault.

0123

11. Upsetting feelings (afraid, angry, guilty, ashamed) a lot of the time.

0123

12. Not wanting to do things I used to do.

0123

13. Not feeling close to people.
14. Not being able to have happy feelings.

00

1
12233

15. Managing strong feelingsa. It is very hard to calm down when I am upset.
b. Feeling mad. Having fits of anger and taking it out on others.
16. Doing unsafe things.

000111222333

17. Being overly careful (checking to see who is around me).

0123

18. Being jumpy.

0123

19. Problems paying attention.

0123

20. Trouble falling or staying asleep.

01

2

3

YESNO

9.

Having negative thoughts, such as:

10. Blaming for the event(s)Please mark YES or NO if the problems you marked interfered with:

2YESNO

1. Getting along with others

OO

4. Family relationships

OO

2. Hobbies/FunOO

5. General happinessOO

3. School or workOOCATS 7-17 VERSION 2.0 (SACHSER ET AL., 2022)|

DIMENSIONAL SCORING
Child’s Name: _______________ Date of Assessment: ____________ Index Traumatic Event(s): _______________
Scoring fo r posttraumatic st ress symptom intensity (DSM-5 PTSD)
Sum of s ympt om items #1 to #20. Onl y count the highest score for #9; #10 and #15.
DSM-5 PT SD Sum = ______CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

Score <15

Score 15-20

Score ≥ 21*

Score ≥ 25*

Normal. Not clinicallyelevated.

Moderate trauma-related
distress.

Elevated distress. Positive
Screening threshold. *High trauma-related distress.
Probable PTSD. **Validation study: Sachser et al., 2022

Scoring fo r posttraumatic st ress symptom intensity (ICD-11 PTSD)
Sum of s ympt om items #2, #3, #6, #7, #17, #18 .
ICD- 11 PT SD Sum = ______CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

Score <5

Score 5-6

Score ≥ 7*

Score ≥ 9*

Normal. Not clinicallyelevated.

Moderate trauma-related
distress.

Elevated distress. Positive
Screening threshold. *High trauma-related distress.
Probable PTSD. **Validation study: Sachser et al., 2022

Scoring fo r posttraumatic st ress symptom intensity (ICD-11 CPTSD)
Sum of s ympt om items #2, #3, #6, #7, #9b, #9d, #10a, #13, #14, #15a, #17, #18 .
ICD- 11 C PT SD Sum = ______CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

CATS 7-17 Years

Score <9*

Score 10-12*

Score ≥ 13*

Score ≥ 16*

Normal. Not clinicallyelevated. *Moderate trauma-relateddistress. *Elevated distress. Positive
Screening threshold. *High trauma-related distress.
Probable CPTSD. ** clinical approximation, cut-off validation pending.

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CATS 7-17 VERSION 2.0 (SACHSER ET AL., 2022)|

CATEGORICAL SCORING
Child’s Name: _______________ Date of Assessment: ____________ Index Traumatic Event(s): _______________

DSM-5 PTSD
DSM-5 Criteria:# of Symptoms(Only count items
rated 2 or 3)# Symptoms
RequiredRe-experiencing
Items 1-5
Avoidance
Items 6-7
Negative Mood/Cognitions
Items 8-14 (highest of #9, #10 and #15)
Hyperarousal
Items 15-20
Functional Impairment
Set of 1-5 Yes/No questions
Probable DSM-5 PTSD Diagnosis*

DSM-5 Criteria Met?

1+Yes

No

1+

Yes

No

2+

Yes

No

2+Yes

No

1+

Yes

NoYes

No

ICD-11 PTSD and CPTSD
ICD-11 Criteria:# of Symptoms(Only count items
rated 2 or 3)

Re-experiencing
Items 2,3
Avoidance
Items 6, 7
Hyperarousal
Items 17,18
Functional Impairment
Set of 1-5 Yes/No Questions
Probable ICD-11 PTSD Diagnosis*
CPTSD Criteria (only if ICD-11 PTSD is fulfilled)
Emotion Regulation
Items 14,15a
Negative Self-Concept
Items 9d, 10aDisturbed Relationships
Items 9b, 13
Probable ICD-11 CPTSD Diagnosis*# Symptoms
RequiredICD-11 Criteria Met?

1+

Yes

No

1+

Yes

No

1+Yes

No

1+Yes

No

Yes

No

1+Yes

No

1+

Yes

No

1+

Yes

No

Yes

No*CATS-2 is constructed as a screening instrument. Elevated scores may be sufficient to suggest a trauma focused treatment,
but because it relies on self-report, clinicians should be cautious to use it as a diagnostic tool.

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CATS 7-17 VERSION 2.0 (SACHSER ET AL., 2022)|