title: Preliminary evaluation of the childhood experiences of violence questionnaire short form.
abstract: Despite advances in child maltreatment research, accurate measurement of exposure remains a key issue. In this study, we evaluated a short form (CEVQ-SF) of the Childhood Experiences of Violence Questionnaire (CEVQ) in a sample of adolescents involved with child protection services in an urban city in Ontario, Canada. Focusing on the two most readily defined maltreatment types, physical and sexual abuse, we evaluated the short form's comparability with the full version of the CEVQ. Both versions had good internal consistency and moderate-to-good 2-week test-retest reliability. The criterion validity of the two CEVQ versions in comparison with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire was satisfactory. Construct validity for both versions was demonstrated: physically and sexually abused youth had higher odds of reporting clinical traumatic symptoms compared with either type alone. The CEVQ-SF is as reliable and valid as its full version. Implications for its use in large population-based surveys are discussed.
authors.affiliation: McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. tanakam@mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: Masako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wekerle
authors.forename: Eman
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Randall
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Waechter
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jamieson
authors.forename: Harriet L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: MacMillan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009864:Ontario / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D014505:Urban Population; D014754:Violence