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Timeline Followback Spousal Violence Interview to Assess Physical Aggression Between Intimate Partners: Reliability and Validity

NCJ Number
200855
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 18 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2003 Pages: 131-142
Author(s)
William Fals-Stewart; Gary R. Birchler; Michelle L. Kelley
Date Published
June 2003
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This article presents an evaluation of the Timeline Followback Spousal Violence interview (TLFB-SV).
Abstract
Domestic violence is a significant public health concern in the United States. The TLFB-SV is a calendar method used to assess daily patterns and frequencies of spousal abuse. In order to evaluate the psychometric properties of the TLFB-SV, the authors interviewed 104 men entering a spousal violence outpatient treatment program, located in the northeastern United States, at pre-treatment and post-treatment quarterly intervals. After detailing the demographic profile of the males interviewed as representing a mean of 32.3 years of age with a mean of 12.7 years of education, 1.9 children, and a weekly family income of $234.00, the authors describe the measures examined in this study. Addressing relationship aggression, relationship disharmony and conflict, and other measures, the authors analyzed the violence subscales from the TLFB-SV. Results calculated from the days in which spousal violence occurred indicated that the TLFB-SV subscales had excellent temporal stability and concurrent discriminant validity, with the scales indicating interpartner agreement on TLFB-SV subscale scores. The use of the TLFB-SV may help domestic violence investigators understand how often spousal violence occurs in a given couple as well as indicate its temporal antecedents and consequences. Tables, references