Experimental Approaches for Improving the Assessment of Partner Violence

Abstract

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious and widespread problem. Unfortunately, like many other private behaviors, self-report is one of the few practical means of assessing IPV. Despite its known limitations, few studies have examined methods for improving the assessment of IPV through self-report, particularly in research contexts. The current study examined implicit goal priming (IGP) and restricted response latencies (RRL), which have previously been used successfully to improve reporting of other types of sensitive information. Participants in the IGP condition engaged in a word-matching task intended to subliminally prime an honesty goal immediately before completing the IPV self-report measure. In the RRL condition, the amount of time participants were allotted to answer each question was restricted to 3 s. Using a pilot sample of 71 cohabiting/married couples, we currently provide experimental support for the utility of the IGP task for increasing the frequency of reported IPV, as well as agreement between self-reports and partner reports, particularly when used in conjunction with the RRL method. We found the strongest and most consistent effects for women’s reports of severe IPV perpetration and victimization, which is important given the extreme nature of these forms of IPV and because they are frequently underreported by women. We also found evidence to support the use of these methods to enhance reporting of other forms of IPV and provide additional directions for future research.

Cycles of Violence Among Young Women in Namibia: Exploring the Links Between Childhood Violence and Adult Intimate Partner Violence From the Violence Against Children and Youth Survey

“…assessed, and methods of interviewer-or self-administered data collection) making it difficult to compare widely across cohorts (Ortiz & Mattson, 2018). In addition to our findings on prevalence of violence, 35.9-48.8% of 18-24 year old adolescent girls and young women had witnessed violence at home or in the community, a quarter reported normative beliefs about child violence and IPV, and about half reported gender attitudes about violence.…”

“…The prevalence estimates of childhood violence and IPV from this nationally representative VACS survey were similar to estimates of violence among young women in other sub-Saharan African settings (Breiding et al, 2013; Dartnall & Jewkes, 2013; García-Moreno et al, 2013; Sumner et al, 2015; Vagi et al, 2016). However, there is wide variability in metrics used to measure violence experiences across different studies and surveillance activities (e.g., phrasing of question stem, time period in which violence is assessed, and methods of interviewer- or self-administered data collection) making it difficult to compare widely across cohorts (Ortiz & Mattson, 2018). In addition to our findings on prevalence of violence, 35.9–48.8% of 18–24 year old adolescent girls and young women had witnessed violence at home or in the community, a quarter reported normative beliefs about child violence and IPV, and about half reported gender attitudes about violence.…”

Factors Distinguishing Reciprocal Versus Nonreciprocal Intimate Partner Violence Across Time and Reporter

“…Such biases are likely heightened when disclosing IPV, a sensitive topic that is frequently unrecognized and underreported by both women and men, thus undermining the validity of IPV assessments (Follingstad & Rogers, 2013). For practical and ethical reasons, IPV cannot be observed in the laboratory, but researchers have begun to innovate methods to improve IPV self-report assessment, such as correction scales to assess respondent validity (Follingstad & Rogers, 2013), or experimental paradigms such as implicit priming and restricted response latencies to enhance reporting accuracy (Ortiz & Mattson, 2018). The field would benefit from establishing a gold standard of IPV measurement that would likely prioritize multimethod assessment (Follingstad & Rogers, 2013).…”