Psychometric properties of Haj-Yahia’s questionnaire of violence against women in a sample of married women in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background Abuse against women causes great suffering for the victims and is an important health problem among women. To date, a few screening instruments for wife abuse exist for married women in Iran, but they only assess some of the wife abuse components. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Haj-Yahia’s Questionnaire in a sample of married women residing in Tehran. Materials and methods This is a cross-sectional study with a population consisting of married women in Tehran, among which 471 individuals were selected using convenience sampling method. Psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated using face validity, content validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and stability. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed using the weighted least square mean and variance adjusted. We performed confirmatory factor analysis using Mplus version 8 software and for other calculations, we used STATA V14. Results The quantitative results of face validity and content validity indicated that all items of the questionnaire were in acceptable range, and were retained in the study. In CFA results, the model fit indices were acceptable (TLI = 0.986, CFI = 0.987, RMSEA = 0.039 and SRMR = 0.057). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and economic abuse were estimated 0.90, 0.93, 0.79, and 0.78 respectively, and an alpha of 0.95 was found for the total questionnaire. The intra-cluster correlation index was 0.98. Conclusions Findings showed that the Persian version of the questionnaire of violence against women made it possible to evaluate various dimensions of violence using 4 factors and showed good construct validity and internal reliability in the female population in Iran; therefore, it can be used in future studies.

Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Revised Scale of Economic Abuse among Iranian Women

“…Furthermore, Iran saw a significant rise in the prevalence rate of IPV following the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (Fereidooni et al, 2023), highlighting the urgent need for victim protection. Furthermore, there are a limited number of adequate and culturally compatible measures in Iran to assess spousal abuse in all of its forms (Sotoodeh Ghorbani et al, 2022). Recent work by Sotoodeh Ghorbani and colleagues (2022) examined the psychometric properties of a Persian-translated version of Haj-Yahia’s (1999) questionnaire on Violence Against Women among a sample of married Iranian women.…”

“…Furthermore, there are a limited number of adequate and culturally compatible measures in Iran to assess spousal abuse in all of its forms (Sotoodeh Ghorbani et al, 2022). Recent work by Sotoodeh Ghorbani and colleagues (2022) examined the psychometric properties of a Persian-translated version of Haj-Yahia’s (1999) questionnaire on Violence Against Women among a sample of married Iranian women. While the instrument showed promise overall, only two items assessed economic abuse.…”

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“…Ghorbani et al (2022) in Iran validated and measured psychometrically this tool [ 15 ]. In the present study, the reliability of the instrument was investigated and Cronbach's alpha of the total instrument was estimated to be 0.89.…”

The relationship between mental health and violence toward women during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…In Iran, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and economic abuse were estimated 0.90, 0.93, 0.79, and 0.78 respectively, and an alpha of 0.95 was found for the total questionnaire. The intra-cluster correlation index was 0.98 [ 19 ].…”