Brief Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration Screening Tools: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Patients are willing to disclose violence perpetration to healthcare providers when asked.
• Screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration in healthcare settings is crucial but challenged by time constraints.
• Brief, validated instruments are needed for efficient IPV perpetration screening in clinical environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of measurement tools for detecting IPV perpetration.
• To assess the psychometric properties of brief instruments designed for healthcare settings.
• To identify gaps in the literature regarding IPV perpetration screening tools.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review was performed to identify relevant measurement tools.
• Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed publication, 10 or fewer items, psychometric testing results, and focus on IPV perpetration.
• Databases and bibliographies were searched for eligible studies.

Main Results:

• Five measures met the eligibility criteria for the review.
• Most identified measures demonstrated good reliability and validity.
• The majority of measures consisted of 2-5 items and were tested with adequate sample sizes, primarily in the US.

Conclusions:

• Brief, validated tools for screening IPV perpetration are available and show promise for clinical use.
• Variations exist in how positive/negative screenings are determined across measures.
• Future research should address sample diversity, invariance testing, and implementation guidelines.