The Development and Validation of the Indian Family Violence and Control Scale

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Ameeta Kalokhe, Emory University; Robert Stephenson, Emory University; Mary Kelley, Emory University; Kristin L. Dunkle, South African Medical Research Council; Anuradha Paranjape, Temple University; Vikram Solas, National AIDS Research Institute, India; Latika Karve, National AIDS Research Institute, India; Carlos Del Rio, Emory University; Seema Sahay, National AIDS Research Institute, India
• Language: English
• Date: 2016-01-29
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 Kalokhe et al
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0148120
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PLoS ONE
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Start Page: e0148120
• End Page: e0148120
• Grant/Funding Information: Research supported in this publication was supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health Global Health Fellowship (R25 TW009337) and Award number K01 TW009664 to ASK.
• Keywords: CHILD-MORTALITY; Research validity; Human families; MARRIED YOUNG-WOMEN; PHYSICAL VIOLENCE; SEXUAL VIOLENCE; RURAL INDIA; India; SYMPTOMS; RISK-FACTORS; Educational attainment; SOUTH-INDIA; INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE; Science & Technology - Other Topics; DOMESTIC VIOLENCE; Multidisciplinary Sciences; Language
• Research Categories: Psychology, Psychometrics; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

The high prevalence of domestic violence (DV) among married women in India and associated negative health repercussions highlight the need for effective prevention strategies and tools to measure the efficacy of such interventions. Literature supporting differing manifestations of DV by culture underscores the need for a culturally-tailored scale to more effectively measure DV in the Indian context. We therefore aimed to develop and validate such a tool, the Indian Family Violence and Control Scale (IFVCS), through a mixed-methods study. The psychometric development of IFVCS is herein discussed. After field pre-testing and expert review, a 63-item questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 630 married women from May-July 2013 in Pune, India. The item response theory approach for binary data to explore the IFVCS structure suggested that IFVCS is reliable, with the majority of items having high (>0.5) and significant factor loadings. Concurrent validity, assessed by comparing responses to IFVCS with the validated, abridged Conflict Tactics Scale-2, was high (r = 0.899, p<0.001) as was the construct validity, demonstrated by its significant association with several established DV correlates. Therefore, initial assessment of the IFVCS psychometric properties suggests that it is an effective tool for measuring DV among married women in India and speaks to its capacity for enhancing understanding of DV epidemiology and for evaluating the effectiveness of future DV interventions.