Adding insult to injury: development and initial validation of the Partner-Directed Insults Scale.

Women who are verbally abused by their intimate male partners suffer serious mental health consequences and often experience physical violence in their relationship. Despite the importance of studying verbal abuse, no previous research has investigated the specific content of the insults men use to derogate their partners. We present the development and initial validation of a new measure designed to assess the specific content of insults used by men against their intimate partners. In a preliminary study, we used feedback from battered women, along with a review of the relevant literature, to identify specific insults for inclusion in the Partner-Directed Insults Scale (PDIS). We administered the PDIS to a sample of United States participants (Study 1) and a sample of New Zealand participants (Study 2), allowing for a cross-national investigation of the specific insults that men use to derogate their partners. The results demonstrate the practical need for such a scale and provide evidence for the discriminant validity of the PDIS by documenting that men's use of insults predicts their use of controlling behaviors and physical violence.