Domestic Violence Experienced by Women: Construction and Validation of a Measurement Method

Abstract

Domestic violence, also known as intimate partner violence, constitutes a major social scourge recorded in virtually every country in the world. Despite the fact that previous studies investigating this societal phenomenon have evaluated it from various perspectives, little is known about how it is experienced by victims. However, the lack of knowledge of this experience prevents us from understanding that despite the fact that they are involved in relationships marked by violence, many women do not leave them, thus putting their physical and psychological health at risk. To help fill this gap, this research constructs and validates a new scale specific to experienced domestic violence. After formulating and verifying its items, a validation study was conducted with a sample of 406 female participants, aged between 18 and 61 years (M=29.63; SD=8,688). Factor analyses report that this measure has a one-dimensional factor structure with 12 items. The reliability indices are satisfactory (α=.95). The same goes for convergent, discriminant and predictive validity. The scale of experienced domestic violence has a general scope which will allow researchers to carry out an in depth investigation into the psychological, social, economic and political causes and consequences of experienced domestic violence with a view, in particular, to considering interventions for the recovery of the victims.