Identifying intimate partner violence: comparing the Chinese abuse assessment screen with the Chinese revised conflict tactics scales

Abstract

Objective To assess the measurement accuracy and the utility of the Chinese Abuse Assessment Screen (AAS).Design A cross-sectional study.Setting An antenatal clinic of a public hospital and a community centre in Hong Kong.Sample A total of 257 Chinese women consisting of 100 pregnant women and 157 nonpregnant women.Method The Chinese AAS was administered first, followed by the Chinese Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). This was performed in the same sitting, and each participant was interviewed once either at an antenatal clinic (for the pregnant women sample) or at a community centre (for the nonpregnant women sample).Main outcome measures Estimates of the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and positive and negative likelihood ratios.Results Using the Chinese CTS2 as the standard, the specificity estimates of the Chinese AAS for emotional, physical and sexual abuse were ‡89%, while the sensitivity estimates varied from 36.3 to 65.8%. The sensitivity improved in the screening for more severe cases (66.7%). The positive predictive values were ‡80%, and the negative predictive values varied from 66 to 93%. Factors such as the age difference between the couple and the woman's need for financial assistance were found to be associated with intimate partner violence (IPV). ConclusionThe Chinese AAS has demonstrated satisfactory measurement accuracy and utility for identifying IPV when the Chinese CTS2 was used as the standard.

Characteristics of Family Violence Victims Presenting to Emergency Departments in Hong Kong

“…Universal screening for family violence in the ED is advocated, and is welcomed by most patients (9). To meet such a goal, valid and reliable instruments are available (17). Multidisciplinary collaboration between health care, legal, and social service professionals is needed to meet the various needs of victims, and to reduce hospital readmissions.…”

“…This has lead to violence screening being placed at a low priority (15,16). Although the validated Chinese version of the Abuse Assessment Screen is used in some health settings for IPV screening, physicians' diagnoses are the only basis for identification of violence cases (including IPV, CAN, and EA) in most local hospitals (17). To help early identification of abuse cases, reliable and standardized screening protocols for family violence are essential (18).…”

Effect of an Advocacy Intervention on Mental Health in Chinese Women Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence

“…Community-dwelling Chinese women were eligible if they resided or worked in one of the districts covered by the community center, screened positive for IPV (using the Chinese Abuse Assessment Screen [C-AAS] 11 ), and were 18 years or older. Women were excluded from the study if they could not communicate in Cantonese or Putonghua, the 2 main Hong Kong dialects used in this study for administering the intervention and collecting data.…”

Psychological Intimate Partner Abuse among Chinese Women: What we know and what we still Need to know

“…Recently, an effort has been made to develop a valid and reliable tool for clinical screening of psychological abuse in Chinese women [19]. Modified from the AAS (14), the Chinese AAS is designed to address psychological and physical abuse separately for three time periods (lifetime, preceding 12 months and during pregnancy).…”

“…The examples include behaviors which cause denigrating damage to self-esteem, passive-aggressive withholding of emotional support and nurturance, threatening behaviors, and restricting personal territory and freedom, as described in Maiuro's [4] dimensions of psychological abuse. The Chinese AAS was validated with 257 abused and non-abused Chinese women and demonstrated satisfactory measurement accuracy and utility for identifying IPV including psychological abuse [19].…”