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Depression, Postpartum / Post Traumatic Stress Disorder / Stress Disorders, Post Traumatic · Psychometric validation study
European Journal of Psychotraumatology · July 17, 2026
Reinforces what was already believed, rather than introducing something new.
The City Birth Trauma Scale demonstrates excellent internal consistency and validity for assessing birth-related PTSD symptoms in Black postpartum women, a population at heightened risk. The two-factor structure was confirmed with good model fit, supporting clinical use of the instrument in this underserved group.
Cross-sectional psychometric validation study. 130 Black trauma-exposed women at 6-8 weeks postpartum. Intervention: City Birth Trauma Scale (BiTS). Compared with: Validated measures of PTSD, depression, and anxiety. n = 130.
The BiTS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = 0.91) among Black postpartum women 33.6% of women reported their birth as traumatic and met criterion A 4.6% of women met full DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for PTSD using the BiTS
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Clinicians can confidently use the BiTS to screen for birth-related PTSD in Black postpartum women, a population facing disproportionate obstetric risks. The validated two-factor structure allows assessment of both birth-specific and general PTSD symptoms.
Validation study confirms strong psychometric properties of an existing measure in a specific at-risk population using established methods.
As stated by the source record.
Quoted from the source exactly as published.
Clinicians can confidently use the BiTS to screen for birth-related PTSD in Black postpartum women, a population facing disproportionate obstetric risks. The validated two-factor structure allows assessment of both birth-specific and general PTSD symptoms.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Background: Black women in the USA, who face disproportionate risks of obstetric complications and adverse birth outcomes, may be at heightened risk of birth-related post-traumatic stress symptoms. However, the City Birth Trauma Scale (BiTS) has not yet been psychometrically evaluated in this population.Objective: This study examined the psychometric properties of the BiTS, including internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and factor structure, among Black postpartum trauma-exposed women.Method: In total, 130 women who were 6-8 weeks postpartum completed the BiTS, along with validated measures of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess BiTS factor structure. Internal consistency, convergent and divergent validity, and PTSD diagnostic prevalence were also examined.Results: The BiTS demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = 0.91) and strong convergent and divergent validity with PTSD, depression, and anxiety measures. CFA supported a two-factor model (birth-related symptoms and general symptoms subscales) with good model fit. One-third (33.6%) of women reported their birth as traumatic and met criterion A (e.g. the belief that she or her baby would die during childbirth). Using the BiTS, 4.6% of women met full DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for PTSD, while 7.6% were above the established BiTS diagnostic cut-off for probable PTSD diagnosis.Conclusion: The BiTS demonstrates strong psychometric properties in Black postpartum trauma-exposed women.
Taken from the source record, never inferred. Follow any of these and new work involving them reaches your briefing.