Dataset Information

Psychometric properties of the WHO Violence Against Women instrument in a female population-based sample in Sweden: a cross-sectional survey.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To explore psychometric properties of the Violence Against Women instrument in a randomly selected national sample of women (N=573) aged 18-65 years and residing in Sweden.

Design

Cross-sectional survey study.

Setting

Sweden.

Participants

A postal survey was sent to 1006 women between January and March 2009, during which 624 women (62%) returned the questionnaire. 51 women who did not answer any of the violence items were excluded from the analyses, resulting in a final sample of 573 women.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Self-reported exposure to psychological, physical and sexual intimate partner violence.

Results

Cronbach's ? coefficients were 0.79 (psychological scale), 0.80 (physical scale), 0.72 (sexual scale) and 0.88 (total scale). A predetermined three-component solution largely replicated the explored three component conceptual model of the Violence Against Women instrument. The instrument was able to discriminate between groups known from previous studies to differ in exposure to physical and/or sexual violence, that is, respondents with poor versus good self-rated health and witnessed versus not witnessed physical violence at home when growing up. Past-year prevalence of physical (8.1%; 95% CI 5.9 to 10.3) and sexual (3%; 1.6 to 4.4) violence was similar to that reported in other Nordic studies; however, earlier-in-life prevalence was lower in the current study (14.3%; 95% CI 11.4 to 17.2 and 9.2%; 95% CI 6.8 to 11.6, respectively). Reported exposure rates were higher than those obtained from a concurrently administered instrument (NorVold Abuse Questionnaire).

Conclusions

The Violence Against Women instrument demonstrated good construct validity and internal reliability in an adult female population in Sweden. However, further studies examining these and other psychometric properties need to be conducted in other countries.

SUBMITTER: Nybergh L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3664346 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Psychometric properties of the WHO Violence Against Women instrument in a female population-based sample in Sweden: a cross-sectional survey.

Nybergh Lotta L Taft Charles C Krantz Gunilla G

BMJ open 20130528 5

<h4>Objective</h4>To explore psychometric properties of the Violence Against Women instrument in a randomly selected national sample of women (N=573) aged 18-65 years and residing in Sweden.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional survey study.<h4>Setting</h4>Sweden.<h4>Participants</h4>A postal survey was sent to 1006 women between January and March 2009, during which 624 women (62%) returned the questionnaire. 51 women who did not answer any of the violence items were excluded from the analyses, resulti ...[more]

PMID: 23793692

Similar Datasets

Project description:IntroductionTo make valid comparisons across groups, a measurement instrument needs to be measurement invariant across those groups. The present study evaluates measurement invariance for experience of violence among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in two informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.MethodsWe used survey data collected from 1,081 AGYW aged 15-22 years from two Nairobi's informal settlements of Korogocho (n = 617) and Viwandani (n = 464) in 2017 through DREAMS (an initiative aimed at reducing HIV incidence among AGYW with a core package of evidence-based interventions) impact evaluation project. Experience of violence was measured using the 15-item WHO's violence against women instrument, and factorial (non)invariance assessed within exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) framework. Cross-group measurement invariance was assessed using Bayesian Multiple Indicator Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model across site, age groups, self-reported invitation to participate in DREAMS, marital status, currently in school, education level, religion, ethnic groups, ever had sex, slept hungry at night past 4 weeks, and wealth index.ResultsThe mean and median ages of the AGYW were 17.9 years and 17 years, respectively. About 59% reported having had sex and 58% of AGYW were in school. The percentage reporting each act of violence varied from 1.6% ("attacked you with a weapon") to 26.5% ("insult you or make you feel bad about yourself"). About 44% (n = 474) of participants experienced ≥1 acts of violence, and 2.7% (n = 29) experienced at least half of the 15 acts. The structure underlying the 15 items was configurally similar to that proposed by WHO, with three factors reflecting either psychological, physical, or sexual violence. Noninvariance was detected for five items-spread across the three domains. Three of five items showed noninvariance only for sleeping hungry at night in the past 4 weeks. As the majority of items did not show evidence of noninvariance, differences in latent mean scores likely reflect actual differences and may not be attributable to measurement artifacts.ConclusionsUsing state-of-the-art statistical techniques on a widely used instrument for measuring exposure to violence among women, this study provides support for the subscales of psychological, physical and sexual violence in a Kenyan AGYW population. The instrument supports comparisons across groups within this population. This is crucial when comparing violence against girls/women prevalence rates and to understand challenges and exchange strategies to reduce abuse or violence experienced by AGYW, or women in general.

Project description:BackgroundInvesting in children's early years can have a lasting positive effect, such as better academic outcomes throughout their school careers. In Jordan, investments have been made in early childhood development and early childhood care and education to improve children's school readiness. School readiness comprises a range of abilities needed to succeed in school, including physical, emotional, social, and cognitive skills. To measure the impact of these investments on children's school readiness, Jordan has been implementing the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a population-level, teacher-completed checklist of children's school readiness, assessing children's development in five main areas, referred to as domains.MethodsThe goal of the current study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the EDI, using data collected in 2018 on a sample of 5952 children in Jordan. The EDI was translated from the original English version to Arabic and adapted for use in Jordan. We conducted a categorical confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for each of the five domains of the EDI and examined the reliability of the domains and subdomains using Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient.ResultsWith few exceptions, the study results are in line with those of the analysis of the psychometric properties found with the original, Canadian English version of the EDI in a population of Canadian children. Results of CFAs demonstrated, for the most part, good model fits. Internal consistency indices of the domains ranged from 0.60 for physical health and well-being to 0.96 for social competence. For the subdomains, they ranged from 0.26 to 0.94.ConclusionsOur results provide empirical support for the adaptation of the EDI for population monitoring of school readiness in Jordan. Validation of the Arabic adaptation opens up the possibility of assessing school readiness of young children in Jordan in comparison to the many other countries that have successfully adapted and applied the EDI.

Project description:BackgroundValid measures of sexual violence stigma that can be readily incorporated into program monitoring and evaluation systems are needed to strengthen gender-based violence (GBV) services in humanitarian emergencies. This study sought to assess the psychometric properties, construct validity, and measurement invariance of sexual violence stigma scales among female Somali GBV survivors in Kenya and Syrian GBV survivors in Jordan to identify an abbreviated scale that could be used across humanitarian contexts.MethodsWe administered measures of sexual violence stigma to 209 female survivors of sexual violence aged 15 and older in Kenya and Jordan. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the underlying latent structure, and Item Response Theory was used to estimate item difficulty and discrimination parameters to guide efforts to shorten the scales. Differential item functioning (DIF) by site was assessed using Multiple Indicators, Multiple Causes models. Construct validity of the sexual violence stigma scales was assessed by estimating correlations with functional impairment, depression, and disability.ResultsThe sexual violence stigma measure exhibited distinct factor structures among Somali and Syrian GBV survivors. Among Somali survivors, a two-factor model with separate felt (10 items) and enacted (4 items) stigma constructs was identified, with scales for both domains exhibiting good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93 and 0.88, respectively). In Jordan, a single factor solution was uncovered for a 15-item stigma scale with good internal consistency (alpha = 0.86). The shortened core sexual stigma scale consisting of the 4 items that did not exhibit DIF had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.82 in Kenya and 0.81 in Jordan. The felt stigma scale in Kenya, the full stigma scale in Jordan, and abbreviated core stigma scales in both countries were meaningfully correlated with depression, while correlations with functional impairment were weaker and inconsistent across scales.ConclusionsAn abbreviated core set of invariant perceived and internalized sexual violence stigma items demonstrated evidence of construct validity in two diverse settings. The ability of this measure to be efficiently administered as a part of routine program monitoring and evaluation activities, with the potential addition of items from a measurement bank to improve contextual relevance, can facilitate improvements in the delivery and quality of gender-based violence programs in humanitarian emergencies.

Dataset Information

Psychometric properties of the WHO Violence Against Women instrument in a female population-based sample in Sweden: a cross-sectional survey.

Objective

Design

Setting

Participants

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Psychometric properties of the WHO Violence Against Women instrument in a female population-based sample in Sweden: a cross-sectional survey.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets