NCJ Number
228086
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 24 Issue: 7 Dated: October 2009 Pages: 485-496
Date Published
October 2009
Length
12 pages
Annotation
A discussion is presented raising concern about the methodological differences when studying child maltreatment types due to wide variation in correlations among the maltreatment types from study to study; proposed steps are outlined to improve the construct validity of the maltreatment type measures.
Abstract
Available research indicates that maltreated children experience multi-type maltreatment relatively frequently. However, studies often do not assess the different maltreatment types, and when assessed the maltreatment types are often found to be correlated. These correlations vary considerably from study to study, a result that raises questions about the validity of the operational definitions used to measure the maltreatment types. The failure to examine multi-type maltreatment can result in a partial, if not a distorted, picture of a child's maltreatment experience. In addition, failure to examine correlations among operational definitions of different maltreatment types can result in failing to consider potential confounding of the operational definitions of the maltreatment types, thereby affecting the interpretation of correlations between measures of each maltreatment type and the assessment of a maltreatment type's presumed consequences. The improvement of the construct validity of maltreatment type measures is proposed in order to obtain more consistent results. This paper outlines steps by which to achieve this objective. Tables and references