Development of Perception of Child Maltreatment Scale

Abstract

This article presents reliability and validity analyses of the Perception of Child Maltreatment Scale (PCMS). The scale comprised 34 items that measure abusive behaviors related to emotional/psychological abuse (10 items), sexual abuse (6 items), child neglect (6 items), child labor (7 items), and physical abuse (5 items). Analysis was based on a convenience sample of 317 participants in Nigeria. Exploratory factor analysis with promax rotation was used to determine construct validity of its five-factor structure (subscales). The overall internal consistency of the PCMS was .95; subscales of Emotional/Psychological Abuse (.93) and Sexual Abuse (.91) were high, whereas those of Child Neglect (.89), Child Labor (.86), and Physical Abuse (.84) were good. Cutoff scores were computed categorizing scores into low/weak, medium/moderate, and high/strong perceptions of child maltreatment. Strengths and limitations as well as practical applications and implications of the scale for research were discussed.