NCJ Number
173919
Journal
Child Abuse and Neglect Volume: 22 Issue: 5 Dated: May 1998 Pages: 393-399
Date Published
1998
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The impact of childhood emotional abuse was examined through an analysis of information provided by 157 female psychology undergraduate students and 79 female nursing students in the United Kingdom; the participants completed the Child Abuse and Trauma Scale (CATS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
Abstract
The CATS was originally devised to measure the extent of adverse sexual, physical, and neglectful experiences, but it contained items that also reflected the construct of emotional abuse. Therefore, a fourth subscale was drawn from the existing CATS items to reflect reported emotional abuse during childhood. The research tested the concurrent validity and internal consistency of this new subscale and determined that they were acceptable. In fact, findings indicated that the new childhood emotional abuse subscale had a more central role in anxiety and depression than did the original three subscales. Thus, it is recommended that future research and clinical practice use this revised version of the CATS to improve understanding of the multidimensional nature of child abuse. Table and 17 references (Author abstract modified)