Measuring Psychologically Abusive Behaviors in Adult Intimate Relationships: A Systematic Review of Measures

This systematic review aimed to identify measures assessing psychological intimate partner violence (IPV) and examine their content validity against the 21-category taxonomy of psychologically abusive behaviors. An additional aim was to determine whether existing measures had been developed or validated for use in sexuality- and gender-diverse (SGD) populations. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, and ProQuest One Academic databases were searched in June 2023 and updated in December 2025, with no date restrictions. Eligible studies were peer-reviewed, published in English, and developed and/or validated a measure of psychological IPV or a general IPV measure including at least one psychological IPV subscale. A total of 157 studies were included, comprising 77 measures. Most measures (82%, n = 63) covered less than half of the taxonomy. Coverage was strongest for the domains of emotional abuse, isolation, and control of personal life and limited for more covert tactics, including information control, abuse concealment, child-related coercion, and gaslighting-related behaviors. Few measures had been developed or validated for SGD populations. Among the psychological IPV measures (n = 35), the Psychological Maltreatment of Women Inventory (PMWI) was the strongest overall. The Scale of Psychological Abuse in Intimate Partner Violence (EAPA-P) had the highest coverage of the taxonomy but no English-language validation. No general IPV measures (n = 42) were found that demonstrated strong taxonomy coverage with adequate validation. These gaps highlight the urgent need for future measures to capture the full construct of psychological IPV and ensure validity across SGD populations.