title: Exploratory factor analysis and psychometric evaluation of the teacher reporting attitude scale for child sexual abuse.
abstract: This paper presents an evaluation of an instrument to measure teachers' attitudes toward reporting child sexual abuse and discusses the instrument's merit for research into reporting practice. Based on responses from 444 Australian teachers, the Teachers' Reporting Attitude Scale for Child Sexual Abuse was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis. The scale isolated three dimensions: commitment to the reporting role, confidence in the system's response to reports, and concerns about reporting. These three factors accounted for 37.5% of the variance in the 14-item measure. Alpha coefficients for the subscales were 0.769 (commitment), 0.617 (confidence), and 0.661 (concerns). The findings provide insights into the complexity of studying teachers' attitudes toward reporting of child sexual abuse and have implications for future research.
authors.affiliation: Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. k.walsh@qut.edu.au
authors.forename: Kerryann
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rassafiani
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mathews
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.forename: Des
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Butler
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005178:Faculty; D006801:Humans; D019221:Mandatory Reporting; D011594:Psychometrics; D012574:Schools; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires