Assessing 'Credible Fear': A Psychometric Examination of the Trauma Symptom Inventory-2 in the Context of Immigration Court Evaluations

Recent immigration trends indicate that the United States is home to a remarkably diverse and rapidly growing population of displaced persons. Many of these individuals have survived exceptional trauma and are thus particularly vulnerable to trauma-related behavioral health disorders. Mental health professionals are commonly asked to assess immigrants within this population in the service of immigration court decision making. These assessments present a variety of challenges for clinicians, including the assessment and documentation of trauma-related symptoms across cultural bounds. The Trauma Symptom Inventory-2 (TSI-2) may be uniquely suited to the demands of immigration court assessments; however it has not been previously examined in a culturally diverse sample. The current study provided a psychometric examination of the TSI-2 within a sample of 97 immigrants with histories of trauma. De-identified TSI-2 data were drawn from several clinicians' existing immigration assessment files. Reliability, validity, and standardization sample comparison results indicated that the TSI-2 is appropriate for use within an immigrant population, and the currently available TSI-2 norms are likely acceptable.