Abstract
This paper describes two studies investigating the interrater agreement of severity scales for family maltreatment used in America's largest child and family maltreatment agency: the U.S. military's Family Advocacy Program (FAP). The USAF-FAP Severity Index is a multidimensional rating system for clinicians' evaluations of the severity of seven forms of family maltreatment: partner physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; child physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; and child neglect. The first study evaluated the reliability of the scale as it is used in the field. The second study compared a generalizable sample of clinicians' ratings to an established “gold standard” of what the ratings should have been. The Severity Index demonstrated fair-to-good levels of reliability, suggesting that with minimal cost, investigating caseworkers can routinely assess, and make fairly reliable ratings of, the severity of seven forms of family maltreatment for each case they investigate.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
REFEERENCES
Becker, J. V., Alpert, J. L., BigFoot, D. S., Bonner, B. L., Geddie, L. F., Henggeler, S. W., Kaufman, K. L., and Walker, C. E. (1995). Empirical research on child abuse treatment: Report by the Child Abuse and Neglect Treatment Working Group, American Psychological Association. J. Clin. Child Psychol. 24(Suppl): 23-46.
Black, D. A., Heyman, R. E., and Slep, A. M. S. (2001a). Risk factors for child physical abuse. Risk factors for child sexual abuse. Aggression &; Violent Behavior 6: 121-188.
Black, D. A., Heyman, R. E., and Slep, A. M. S. (2001b). Risk factors for child psychological abuse. Aggression &; Violent Behavior 6: 189-201.
Black, D. A., Heyman, R. E., and Slep, A. M. S. (2001c). Risk factors for child sexual abuse. Aggression &; Violent Behavior 6: 203-229.
Black, D. A., Heyman, R. E., and Slep, A. M. S. (2001d). Risk factors for male-to-female partner sexual abuse. Aggression &; Violent Behavior 6: 269-280.
Cascardi, M., O'Leary, K. D., Schlee, K. A., and Lawrence, E. E. (1995). Major depressive disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder in physically abuse women. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 63: 616-623.
Chaffin, M., Wherry, J. N., Newlin, C., Crutchfield, A., and Dykman, R. (1997). The Abuse Dimensions Inventory: Initial data on a research measure of abuse severity. J. Interpers. Viol. 12: 569-589.
Cicchetti, D. V. (1985). A critique of Whitehurst's “Interrater agreement for journal manuscript reviews”: De omnibus disputandem est. Am. Psychol. 40: 563-568.
Cozby, P. C. (1981). Methods in Behavioral Research, 2nd ed., Mayfield Publishing Company, Palo Alto, CA.
Department of Defense. (1987). Child and Spouse Abuse Report (Instruction 6400.2), Department of Defense, Washington, DC.
Drew, C. J., Hardman, M. L., and Hart, A. W. (1996). Designing and Conducting Research: Inquiry in Education and Social Science. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Haynes, S. N., Richard, D. C., and Kubany, E. S. (1995). Content validity in psychological assessment: A functional approach to concepts and methods. Psychol. Assess. 7: 238-247.
Heyman, R. E., and Neidig, P. H. (1997). Physical aggression couples treatment. In Halford, W. K., and Markman, H. J. (eds.), Clinical Handbook of Marriage and Couples Intervention, Wiley, New York, pp. 589-617.
Kaufman, J., Jones, B., Stieglitz, E., Vitulano, L., and Mannarino, A. P. (1994). The use of multiple informants to assess children's maltreatment experiences. J. Fam. Viol. 9: 227-248.
McGee, R. A., and Wolfe, D. A. (1991). Psychological maltreatment: Toward an operational definition. Dev. Psychopathol. 3: 3-18.
McGee, R. A., Wolfe, D. A., Yuen, S. A., Wilson, S. K., and Carnochan, J. (1995). The measurement of maltreatment: A comparison of approaches. Child Abuse Neglect 19: 233-249.
Mollerstrom, W. W., Patchner, M. A., and Milner, J. S. (1995). Child maltreatment: The United States Air Force's response. Child Abuse Neglect 19: 325-334.
O'Leary, K. D. (1993). Through a psychological lens: Personality traits, personality disorders, and levels of violence. In Gelles, R. J., and Loseke, D. R. (eds.), Current Controversies on Family Violence, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp. 7-30.
O'Leary, K. D., Heyman, R. E., and Neidig, P. H. (1999). Treatment of wife abuse: A comparison of gender-specific and couples approaches. Behav. Ther. 30: 475-505.
Schumacher, J. A., Slep, A. M. S., and Heyman, R. E. (2001a). Risk factors for child neglect. Aggression &; Violent Behavior 6: 231-254.
Schumacher, J. A., Feldbau-Kohn, S., Slep, A. M. S., and Heyman, R. E. (2001b). Risk factors for male-to-female partner physical abuse. Aggression &; Violent Behavior 6: 281-352.
Schumacher, J. A., Slep, A. M. S., and Heyman, R. E. (2001c). Risk factors for male-to-female partner psychological abuse. Aggression &; Violent Behavior 6: 255-268.
Sedlak, A. J., and Broadhurst, D. D. (1993). The Third National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC.
Stets, J. E., and Straus, M. A. (1990). Gender differences in reporting of marital violence and its medical and psychological consequences. In Straus, M. A., and Gelles, R. J. (eds.), Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptation to Violence in 8,145 families, Transaction, New Brunswick, NJ, pp. 151-165.
Straus, M. A. (1979). Measuring intrafamily conflict and violence; The Conflict Tactics (CT) Scales. J. Marriage Fam. 41: 75-78.
Straus, M. A., and Gelles, R. J. (1990). Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence in 8,145 Families, Transaction, New Brunswick, NJ.
Straus, M. A., Hamby, S. L., Boney-McCoy, S., and Sugarman, D. B. (1996). The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2): Development and preliminary psychometric data. J. Fam. Issues 17: 283-316.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000) Child Maltreatment 1998: Reports From the States to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.
Vivian, D., and Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J. (1994). Are bi-directionally violent couples mutually victimized? A gender sensitive comparison. Viol. Victims 9: 107-124.
Wiggins, J. S. (1973) Personality and Prediction: Principles of Personality Assessment, Robert E. Krieger Publishing, Malabar, FL.
Whitehurst, G. J. (1984). Interrater agreement for journal manuscript reviews. Am. Psychol. 39: 22-28.
Whitehurst, G. J. (1985). On lies, damned lies, and statistics: Measuring interrater agreement. Am. Psychol. 40: 568-569.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Slep, A.M.S., Heyman, R.E. Severity of Partner and Child Maltreatment: Reliability of Scales Used in America's Largest Child and Family Protection Agency. Journal of Family Violence 19, 95–106 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOFV.0000019840.36496.a1
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOFV.0000019840.36496.a1