Measuring emotional abuse in dating relationships as a multifactorial construct

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sociology
• Relationship Science

Background:

• Emotional abuse in dating relationships is a significant issue.
• Existing measurement tools may not capture the complexity of emotional abuse.
• A multifactorial approach is needed to understand emotional abuse dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a multifactorial measure for emotional abuse in dating relationships.
• To identify distinct subscales of emotional abuse.
• To examine the relationship between emotional abuse and physical aggression.

Main Methods:

• Generated a 54-item scale assessing four subscales: Restrictive Engulfment, Hostile Withdrawal, Denigration, and Dominance/Intimidation.
• Conducted exploratory factor analysis on data from 157 female undergraduates in dating relationships.
• Assessed convergent and discriminant validity using the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems and attachment variables.

Main Results:

• Exploratory factor analysis supported the four hypothesized subscales of emotional abuse.
• Denigration and Dominance/Intimidation showed higher correlations with physical aggression.
• The new measure demonstrated evidence of discriminant and convergent validity.

Conclusions:

• Emotional abuse in dating relationships is a multifactorial construct.
• The developed scale effectively measures distinct aspects of emotional abuse.
• Findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of relationship violence and interpersonal dynamics.