Comparing Three Measures of Psychological Aggression: Psychometric Properties and Differentiation From Negative Communication

• NCJ Number: 220194
• Journal: Journal of Family Violence Volume: 22 Issue: 7 Dated: October 2007 Pages: 575-586
• Author(s): Eunyoe Ro; Erika Lawrence
• Date Published: October 2007
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): CCR721682; CE721682; HD046789
• Sponsoring Agency: University of Iowa; Ctr's for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Test/Measurement
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study evaluated the psychometric properties of three measures of psychological aggression: the Conflict Tactics Scale-Second Version: Psychological Aggression Scale (CTS2-PS); the Multidimensional Measures of Emotional Abuse (MMEA); and the Test of Negative Social Exchange (TENSE).

Abstract

Generally, the MMEA and TENSE showed the strongest internal consistency. The CTS2-PS had lower alpha's (0.54-0.77). These lower correlations can be attributed partly to the fact that the CTS2-PS has fewer items than the MMEA and the TENSE. Still, the results raise some concern about the reliability of the CTS2-PS. The internal consistency of the MMEA and TENSE subscales varied widely, with some correlations falling below 0.70. Thus, although the use of subscales provides conceptual sophistication in detecting the larger construct of psychological aggression, the authors acknowledge that they cannot confidently recommend the use of the subscales on these measures due to their low reliability, especially when used with normative samples. The TENSE interference and ridicule subscales were particularly problematic, warranting further refinement at the item level. In terms of validity, the overall MMEA scale apparently is a comprehensive measure of psychological aggression that could compensate for the existing limitations of the CTS2-PS, such as its lack of comprehensiveness. TENSE has strong psychometric properties and shares a significant amount of variance with existing psychological aggression measures, supporting the view that the measure could be used for assessing psychological aggression. Couples who applied for marriage licenses were sent letters inviting them to participate in a research project on marriage. Couples were eligible to participate if the spouses were between the ages of 18 and 55, in their first marriage, living together, married less than 6 months, had more than a 10th-grade education, and could read and speak English. A total of 100 couples were included in the study. 6 tables and 37 references