OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to describe a standardized questionnaire of histories of abuse among women with serious and persistent mental illness, and to assess its test-retest reliability and its validity. METHODS: Seventy women enrolled in an outpatient clinic were asked about childhood histories of physical and sexual abuse in a structured clinical interviews at two times. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability yielded a Kappa of .63 for the measure of physical abuse, and .82 for the measure of sexual abuse. Validity, assessed as consistency with an independent clinical assessment, showed 75% agreement for reports of physical abuse, and 93% agreement for reports of sexual abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood histories of physical and sexual abuse can be reliably and validly assessed in women with severe and persistent mental illness using a standardized instrument.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this paper is to describe a standardized questionnaire of histories of abuse among women with serious and persistent mental illness, and to assess its test-retest reliability and its validity. METHODS: Seventy women enrolled in an outpatient clinic were asked about childhood histories of physical and sexual abuse in a structured clinical interviews at two times. RESULTS: Test-retest reliability yielded a Kappa of .63 for the measure of physical abuse, and .82 for the measure of sexual abuse. Validity, assessed as consistency with an independent clinical assessment, showed 75% agreement for reports of physical abuse, and 93% agreement for reports of sexual abuse. CONCLUSIONS: Childhood histories of physical and sexual abuse can be reliably and validly assessed in women with severe and persistent mental illness using a standardized instrument.
Authors: Kim T Mueser; Stanley D Rosenberg; Haiyi Xie; M Kay Jankowski; Elisa E Bolton; Weili Lu; Jessica L Hamblen; Harriet J Rosenberg; Gregory J McHugo; Rosemarie Wolfe Journal: J Consult Clin Psychol Date: 2008-04