Citation

Meyer IH, Muenzenmaier K, Cancienne J, Struening E. Child Abuse Negl. 1996; 20(3): 213-219.

Affiliation

Columbia University, School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

8734551

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to describe a standardized questionnaire of histories of abuse among women with serious and persistent mental illness, and to assess its test-retest reliability and its validity. METHODS: Seventy women enrolled in an outpatient clinic were asked about childhood histories of physical and sexual abuse in a structured clinical interviews at two times. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability yielded a Kappa of .63 for the measure of physical abuse, and .82 for the measure of sexual abuse. Validity, assessed as consistency with an independent clinical assessment, showed 75% agreement for reports of physical abuse, and 93% agreement for reports of sexual abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood histories of physical and sexual abuse can be reliably and validly assessed in women with severe and persistent mental illness using a standardized instrument.

Language: en