Instruments to Assess Intimate Partner Violence: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Violence Vict. 2016;31(4):591-621. doi: 10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-14-00122. Epub 2016 May 27.

Abstract

A scoping review was conducted to map existing evidence on strategies to measure male and female intimate partner violence (IPV). PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Scopus databases were searched from inception to 2014. There were 1,098 studies analyzed. To assess IPV, the most commonly followed strategy was the creation of study-specific questions (30.3%). The Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) were the most frequent choice among generic instruments, whereas for clinical samples, the preferred tool was the Abuse Assessment Screen. Prevalence estimates were generally higher when the original versions of the CTS were used. This review provides a guiding frame of what exists in the IPV measurement literature, showing trends in the choice for a particular instrument according to administration methods and settings.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intimate Partner Violence / prevention & control
  • Intimate Partner Violence / statistics & numerical data*
  • Male
  • Mass Screening
  • Prevalence
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Offenses / statistics & numerical data*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*
  • Young Adult