The Willingness to Intervene in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women (WI-IPVAW) Scale: Development and Validation of the Long and Short Versions.

Enrique Gracia,Miriam Marco,Manuel Martín-Fernández,Marisol Lila,Faraj A Santirso,Viviana Vargas

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01146

Enrique Gracia, Miriam Marco + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01146

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Journal: Frontier in Psychology	Publication Date: Jul 17, 2018
Citations: 42	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Valencia

Abstract

Willingness to intervene when one becomes aware of a case of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) reflects the level of tolerance and acceptance of this type of violence in society. Increasing the likelihood of intervention to help victims of IPVAW is also a target for prevention strategies aiming to increase informal social control of IPVAW. In this study, we present the development and validation of the Willingness to Intervene in Cases of Intimate Partner Violence (WI-IPVAW) scale. We report data for both the long and short versions of the scale. We analyzed the latent structure, the reliability and validity of the WI-IPVAW across four samples (N = 1648). Factor analyses supported a bifactor model with a general non-specific factor expressing willingness to intervene in cases of IPVAW, and three specific factors reflecting different intervention preferences: a preference for setting the law enforcement process in motion (“calling the cops” factor), a preference for personal intervention (“personal involvement” factor), and a preference for non-intervention (“not my business” factor). Configural, metric, and partial scalar invariance across genders were supported. Two short versions of the scale, with nine and six items, respectively, were constructed on the base of quantitative and qualitative criteria. The long and short versions of the WI-IPVAW demonstrated both high reliability and construct validity, as they were strongly related to the acceptability of IPVAW, victim-blaming attitudes, perceived severity of IPVAW, and hostile sexism. These results confirm that both the long and short versions of the WI-IPVAW scale are psychometrically sound instruments to analyze willingness to intervene in cases of IPVAW in different settings and with different research needs (e.g., long versions for clinical and research settings, and short versions for large population surveys). The WI-IPVAW is also useful for assessing prevention policies and public education campaigns design to promote a more responsive social environment in cases of IPVAW, thus contributing to deter and reduce this major social and public health problem.

Highlights

The World Health Organization defines intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) as a “global public health problem of epidemic proportions” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2013, p. 7)
By reporting data for both the long and short versions of the scale, we aim to provide tools to analyze willingness to intervene in cases of IPVAW in different settings and with different research needs
We described the development and psychometric properties of the long and short forms of the WI-IPVAW, a set of new self-report questionnaires assessing willingness to intervene in cases of IPVAW

Summary

Introduction

The World Health Organization defines intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) as a “global public health problem of epidemic proportions” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2013, p. 7). IPVAW has profound consequences for the physical and psychological health of victims, and for the well-being of their children, and for society in general (e.g., Campbell, 2002; Ellsberg et al, 2008; Devries et al, 2011; World Health Organization [WHO], 2013; Guedes et al, 2016). In Europe, a survey among the 28 European Union (EU) Member States estimated that an average of 22% of European women had been victims of physical and/or sexual violence by their partners since the age of 15, with a lifetime prevalence across countries ranging from 13 to 32% (European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2014). In Spain, where this study was conducted, various sources estimate IPVAW lifetime prevalence at around 13%, among the lowest in the EU (Vives-Cases et al, 2011; European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, 2014; Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad, 2015; Gracia and Merlo, 2016)

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