Measures for screening for intimate partner violence: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health priority due to the physical and mental impacts it has on health. No existing reviews have focused on the psychometric properties of IPV screening tools used to screen men and women within a mental health context. This review aimed to identify the best psychometrically tested screening tools available to assess all areas of IPV in men and women in mental health setting. Method Databases psycArticles, PsycINFO, Social Science, CINAHL, PubMed and Cochrane were searched from their starting date through to July 2015. Eligible studies were published in peer-reviewed publications in English. Results Thirty-six studies met the inclusion criteria. Ten IPV screening tools were identified. Three tools assessed all areas of IPV and were validated against an appropriate reference standard. One study tested IPV screening tool in a mental health setting. Conclusion Mental health nurses need to incorporate a psychometrically tested IPV tool as part of risk assessment and safety planning for clients. This review identified three tools that are suitable for identifying IPV in a mental health context. However, further research is necessary to validate IPV screening tools that are culturally sensitive and have been validated with men and women.

Maternal exposure to violence and offspring neurodevelopment: A systematic review

“…The Severity of Violence Against Women Scale (SVAWS) was used in three studies and the Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS) was used in different three studies. Both have good psychometric properties …”

Psychometric Characteristics of an Intimate Partner Violence Screening Tool in Women With Mental Disorders

“…The providers report the lack of time and a short, robust and reliable tool as common barriers of violence screening (13).…”

“…It seems that woman abuse screening tool (WAST), among many tools for violence screening, can be a perfect tool for women with psychiatric diseases, as it assesses a variety of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse with a small number of items (8 items) and easy implementation. Also, the use of its short form, with just 2 items, is recommended in busy centers (13,15). Furthermore, it has high reliability and good sensitivity and specificity (10).…”

“…Vogel also suggested the use of the WAST-SF as a useful tool for violence screening in crowded centers in Afghanistan and Pakistan based on the results of their review study on violence screening tools (23). However, since the 2questions in the tool are not screening any of IPV areas, the WAST-SF on its own should not be used to screen IPV as suggested in the recent review by Arkins et al (13).…”

Psychometric properties of the Dating Violence Questionnaire, Short Version: a screening tool for educational settings

“…The majority of tools that have been validated at least once have been developed for gynaecology, traumatology or emergency services and to assess experiences of victimization of adult women by the opposite sex (Arkins et al, 2016;Haggerty, Hawkins & Fontenot, 2011), yet none of the validations provide data on the effects of gender on test sensitivity (Arkins et al, 2016).…”