Validation of a Child Abuse Questionnaire in Iranian Children with Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Abstract

Objectives: Protecting children from abuse is a public responsibility. Having a valid tool to assess child abuse is necessary.  Methods: The present analysis variance–covariance matrix study recruited 360 elementary school students selected by multistage sampling method. The mean variance, composite reliability and Cronbach’s alpha were used in the form of first order and second order confirmatory factor analysis approaches.  Results: The overall prevalence of child abuse was 27.61%. The prevalence of different types of child abuse including fear, neglect, verbal, parental maltreatment, physical, and destruction of confidence were 62%, 42.2%, 18.7%, 15.6%, 14.5%, and 12.6%, respectively. These 6 factors explained 64.6% of the total variance of child abuse. The first order confirmatory factor analysis explains the model better than the second order. Conclusion: The Iranian version of the child abuse questionnaire showed acceptable psychometrics. It is necessary to consider different views of parents and children in future studies.

Keywords

• Child abuse
• Exploratory factor analysis
• Confirmatory factor analysis