NCJ Number
205434
Journal
Child Maltreatment Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2004 Pages: 201-217
Date Published
May 2004
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This comprehensive review of retrospective childhood sexual abuse (CSA) instruments examined instruments from studies published between 1986 and 2001 regarding their administration method, number and specificity of questions, CSA operational definitions, psychometric properties, and the use of scales.
Abstract
In this study, CSA instruments are defined as "self-administered questionnaires, interviews, or chart reviews designed to measure whether an adult (at least 18 years old) experienced CSA at some point when growing up." Based on this definition, 132 articles were involved in the study. The review found that CSA instruments lack standardization. Many CSA instruments have been developed for one-time use. Other CSA instruments have been often used but uniquely modified each time. Descriptive CSA instruments have been overwhelmingly preferred by researchers and have been used primarily to obtain the data necessary to measure the occurrence of past CSA dichotomously; however, operational definitions of CSA have varied widely across studies, with no consensual trends identified. The potential for standardizing descriptive CSA instruments is limited by the few psychometric data that can be collected. One positive trend is the development of CSA scales that measures CSA as an interval-level variable, which allows for more extensive psychometric data to be collected while allowing for the control of response error. Although this study found that great strides have been made in understanding CSA during the years encompassed in this review, the measurement of this complex phenomenon must be improved, so that greater confidence will be placed in the findings and clinical implications of future studies. 4 tables and 164 references