Creation and validation of the Distorted Thoughts on Gender Violence Aggressors Inventory

Abstract

Background: Myths and erroneous beliefs around gender violence jeopardise the progress made in recent decades. In trying to counteract them, it is important to be able to measure the extent to which these distorted thoughts are accepted by victims, aggressors, qualified professionals, and the general population. The main goal of this study was the construction and validation of a self-report instrument to evaluate the distorted thoughts on perpetrators of gender violence. Method: The study involved 855 participants, 479 female and 376 male, Mage = 38.6, SD = 16. After the psychometric analysis of the initial pool of items (N = 100), 35 were adjusted to the parameters of asymmetry, kurtosis, standard deviation, collinearity, and content validity. Results. The study of dimensionality yielded a one-dimensional model with 35 items. The confirmatory factor analysis showed adequate indices of goodness of fit (χ2 = 208.321) and Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA = .052), optimal indices of Comparative Fit (CFI = .989) and corrected goodness of fit (AGFI = .987). The instrument was called the “Distorted Thoughts on Gender Violence Aggressors Inventory” (DTGVAI) and reached an internal consistency of ω = .705. Convergent validity showed a positive relationship between distorted thoughts about aggressors and a) thoughts about violence and victims, and b) ambivalent sexism. Men, older people, and the actively religious showed more distorted thoughts. Conclusion. In conclusion, the DTGVAI is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing myths about the abuser and serves as a starting point for efforts to neutralise these beliefs.

Keywords

• validation
• distorted thoughts
• aggressors
• gender violence
• evaluation
• myths
• clinical psychology.