NCJ Number
138596
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: 291-305
Date Published
1992
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The article reports on a study that validated the Abusive Behavior Inventory (ABI), a self-report instrument developed to reveal a range of domestic abusive behaviors, including both physical and psychological abuse.
Abstract
The ABI is a 30-item instrument that uses a 5-point Likert-type scale to measure the frequency of abusive behavior during a 6-month period. The questionnaire is identical for both men and women. The ABI was initially developed to evaluate a domestic abuse program. The ABI reflects the feminist perspective of the program, which views physical abuse as a means of establishing power and control over the victim and of enabling the user to maintain a system of psychologically abusive behaviors that reinforces this power and control. A validation study for the ABI included a sample of 100 men and 78 women. The sample was divided into groups of abusers-abused and nonabusers-nonabused. The study focused on the evaluation of three types of validity: criterion-related, which pertains to a scale's ability to distinguish between groups based on some external criterion; construct, which is based on how a scale relates to other variables within a system of theoretical relationships; and factorial, which involves determining whether individual items correlate with an instrument's score and do not correlate with unrelated variables. Significant differences in ABI scores were found between the abuser and nonabuser groups. These differences support the ABI's validity in each of the areas examined. 5 tables, appended ABI form, and 26 references