Measuring Physical and Psychological Maltreatment of Children With the Conflict Tactics Scales (From Out of the Darkness: Contemporary Perspectives on Family Violence, P 119-135, 1997, Glenda K. Kantor, Jana L. Jasinski, eds. - See NCJ-171756)

• NCJ Number: 171765
• Author(s): M A Straus; S L Hamby
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): T32MH15161
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; University of New Hampshire, Family Research Laboratory
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter provides new information on an old instrument, the Conflict Tactics Scales.

Abstract

The Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS) is intended to measure use of nonviolent discipline, psychological aggression, and physical assault in parent-child and other family relationships. Two revisions of the CTS became available in 1996: one designed to measure relationships between partners in a marital, cohabiting, or dating relationship and one to measure parent-child relationships, the CTSPC. The specific objectives of this chapter are to provide: (1) examples of applications of the CTS to research on child maltreatment that illustrate potential uses; (2) theoretical rationale underlying both the CTS and the CTSPC; (3) description of the subscales and scoring methods to measure different levels of maltreatment; (4) data on validity and reliability; and (5) assessment of the CTS both in absolute terms and relative to other measures of child maltreatment. Note, table, appendixes, references