title: Measuring child maltreatment using multi-informant survey data: a higher-order confirmatory factor analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the validity and reliability of a multi-informant approach to measuring child maltreatment (CM) comprising seven questions assessing CM administered to children and their parents in a large community sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our sample comprised 2,512 children aged 6 to 12 years and their parents. Child maltreatment (CM) was assessed with three questions answered by the children and four answered by their parents, covering physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse and sexual abuse. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to compare the fit indices of different models. Convergent and divergent validity were tested using parent-report and teacher-report scores on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Discriminant validity was investigated using the Development and Well-Being Assessment to divide subjects into five diagnostic groups: typically developing controls (n = 1,880), fear disorders (n = 108), distress disorders (n = 76), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (n = 143) and oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (n = 56).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A higher-order model with one higher-order factor (child maltreatment) encompassing two lower-order factors (child report and parent report) exhibited the best fit to the data and this model's reliability results were acceptable. As expected, child maltreatment was positively associated with measures of psychopathology and negatively associated with prosocial measures. All diagnostic category groups had higher levels of overall child maltreatment than typically developing children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found evidence for the validity and reliability of this brief measure of child maltreatment using data from a large survey combining information from parents and their children.
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giovanni A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Salum
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diogo Araújo
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: DeSousa
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria do Desenvolvimento para Crianças e Adolescentes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gisele Gus
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Manfro
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria do Desenvolvimento para Crianças e Adolescentes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Pedro Mario
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria do Desenvolvimento para Crianças e Adolescentes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ary
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gadelha
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria do Desenvolvimento para Crianças e Adolescentes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brietzke
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria do Desenvolvimento para Crianças e Adolescentes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eurípedes Constantino
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Miguel
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria do Desenvolvimento para Crianças e Adolescentes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jair J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mari
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria do Desenvolvimento para Crianças e Adolescentes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Conceição
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: do Rosário
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatria do Desenvolvimento para Crianças e Adolescentes, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grassi-Oliveira
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000175:diagnosis; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis*; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012574:Schools; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires