Psychometric properties of the centrality of event scale in Italian adolescents

Stressful and traumatic experiences may become turning points that organize past, present and future experiences and autobiographical memories. The Centrality of Event Scale (CES) measures the extent to which the memory of a highly stressful and traumatic event is central in a person’s life. The present work aimed to translate, adapt and validate the CES in the Italian context, evaluating the psychometric proprieties using a sample of 872 Italian adolescents (60.2% male) aged between 11 and 21 years (M = 16.60, SD = 1.67). The Italian version was proved to be a valid measure for adolescents’ sample in the Italian context. Moreover, significant correlation with the presence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) symptomatology tested by the Impact of Event Scale Revised was found. Our findings provided evidence on the validity of the scale for use with adolescent samples, which may contribute for a better understanding of the impact that significant life events may have on them during an important period of their life.