Objective To assess the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of early trauma inventory-short form(ETI-SF).Methods The Chinese version of ETI-SF was administered to 265 participants including 42 health controls.94 depression disorder patients and 129 substance abusers.130 of them were retested after 2 to 4 weeks.Results The Cronbach's α coefficients of four childhood trauma domains'subscales ranged from 0.64 to 0.84(P＜0.01).The Cronbach's α coefficients of the whole scale was 0.88.The test-retest coefficients ranged from 0.65 to 0.81(P＜0.01).Health control group showed significant lower childhood trauma experience than depression disorder group and substance abuse group.Among three groups,substance abuse subjects showed highest sexual trauma while depression disorder subjects showed highest emotional abuse.ETI-SF can effectively differentiate different groups.Conclusion The Chinese version of ETI-SF shows acceptable reliability and validity.It's a promising assessment tool to evaluate childhood trauma in future clinical practice and research.