Psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Conflict Tactics Scales: Parent-child Version (CTSPC) used to identify child abuse

Abstract

This article follows another, which presented the first phase of the cross-cultural adaptation process examining the psychometric properties of the Conflict Tactics Scales, Parent-child Version (CTSPC), Portuguese version. Fieldwork took place in three public maternity wards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from March to September 2000. Interviews relate to siblings of randomly selected live births. Respondents were mothers. Information on partners was obtained by proxy. Almost all intra-observer reliability kappa estimates were above 0.75. Depending on the scale and type of perpetrator, internal consistency (a) estimates ranged from 0.49 to 0.68. Using the same sample, the iterated principal factor analysis identified four dimensions. Although most items performed well, some failed to adequately load in their expected factors. Construct validity involved exploring the relationship between several other theoretical dimensions and a variable encompassing the cumulative pattern of violence severity. All the hypotheses tested were corroborated. The current evaluation indicates that the CTSPC can be recommended for use in Portuguese-speaking contexts. Still, it also identified some important points needing further investigation and discussion.

Prevalência de abuso físico na infância e exposição à violência parental em uma amostra brasileira

“…Diante disso, pesquisas futuras poderiam utilizar outros instrumentos mais completos, tais como a Conflict Tactics Scales: Parent-Child Version (CTSPC) concebida por Straus 46 e traduzida para utilização na população brasileira por Reichenheim & Moraes 47 . A CTSPC é composta por 22 itens divididos em 3 escalas e proporciona uma mensuração da disciplina parental não violenta, agressão psicológica e agressão física, além disso, contém questões suplementares sobre métodos de disciplina, negligência e abuso sexual.…”

Maternal Child Abuse and its Association with Maternal Anxiety in the Socio-Cultural Context of Iran

“…The original version of this scale with an acceptable reliability (average: 0.70) was developed by Straus et al to assess parental child abuse. 28 It has been validated in some countries, 29,30 and has been deemed acceptable for Iranian culture. 31 This instrument was used to measure the frequency of abusive behaviors committed by the mother towards her last child during the past year.…”

Operacionalização de adaptação transcultural de instrumentos de aferição usados em epidemiologia

“…Of these, 36 were in journals specifi c to public health* and, with the exception of one from 1999, all were published in the current decade. Some of these Brazilian experiences have been guided by the proposal of Herdman et al, either totally 39,40,47,51,52 or partially. 1,11,16,[21][22][23]26,45,54,64 …”

“…Discerning these two issues is not always possible. For example, in the CCA for the Confl ict Tactics Scales: Parent-Child, 52 the item regarding the act of "slapping/punching the child on the face, head, or ears" was found to be much more related to acts of physical violence than to corporal punishment, although the latter was the dimension within which the authors of the instrument placed the item. 60,61 It remains to be determined whether the measurement equivalence was effectively compromised because of this discrepancy in the connotative meaning between the two cultures, or whether the inadequacy was in the instrument originally proposed.…”