Retrospective Assessment of Childhood Sexual and Physical Abuse: A Comparison of Scaled and Behaviorally Specific Approaches

This study compared retrospective reports of childhood sexual and physical abuse as assessed by two measures: the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which uses a Likert-type scaling approach, and the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI), which employs a behaviorally specific means of assessment. Participants included 1,195 undergraduate students recruited from three geographically diverse universities. Agreement was high across the two measures in the classification of victim status (92% and 80% for sexual and physical abuse, respectively). However, the CTQ classified more participants as sexually abused than did the CAMI, whereas the opposite trend was found for physical abuse. For child physical abuse, many participants reporting abusive acts on the CAMI scored below the cut-point for physical abuse on the CTQ. Classifi cation differences for both types of abuse were largely unrelated to demographic factors, socially desirable responding, or self-reported withholding of information. The implications of these results are discussed in light of future research using retrospective methods of assessing childhood abuse

Impact of Computers on Learning Word Problems by Learning Disabled and Non-Learning Disabled Elementary School Students

This study examined the impact that using a computer could have on learning word problems by learning disabled and non-learning disabled elementary school students. All subjects\ud completed a pretest, consisting of a standardized achievement test containing word problems. Subjects were divided into groups which completed either a computer task or a traditional paper task. Subjects in both groups completed six trials, with the final trial being compared to the\ud pretest. Results indicate that on the computer task, learning disabled students showed more\ud improvement than non-learning disabled students. Use of the computer caused more gains for learning disabled students than did completing word problems on paper. Students with visual\ud processing problems and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder showed the most\ud improvement

Assessing Dimensions of Parental Discipline

This study examines the advisability to distinguish dimensions of discipline, by evaluating the Dimensions of Discipline (DDI, Straus & Fauchier, 2007) in a sample of Belgian undergraduate students (N = 371) who retrospectively reported on their mothers' and fathers' discipline behaviors aimed at correcting child misbehavior at age 10. First, confirmatory factor analyses showed that a model with nine factors fitted the data best, but also a model with four second-order factors was acceptable. Second, a multigroup confirmatory factor analysis with a Belgian and a U.S. sample (N = 633)provided additional evidence for the nine-factor structure. Correlations between DDI scales and other parenting related variables demonstrated meaningful relations. Additionaly, some DDI subscales were associated with measures of current problem behavior. To conclude, the present study illustrated that is both useful and possible to differentiate between discipline constructs.status: publishe

Development and Initial Psychometric Properties of the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI): A Comprehensive Self-Report Measure of Child Maltreatment History

Objectives: The present study reports on the development and initial psychometric properties of the Computer Assisted Maltreatment Inventory (CAMI), a web-based self-report measure of child maltreatment history, including sexual and physical abuse, exposure to interparental violence, psychological abuse, and neglect. Methods: The CAMI was administered to a geographically diverse sample of college students (N= 1,398). For validation purposes, participants also completed a widely used measure of maltreatment (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) as well as measures of social desirability. To examine test–retest reliability, a subset of participants (n = 283) completed the CAMI a second time 2–4 weeks after the initial administration. Results: Short-term test–retest reliability of the CAMI subscales was good to strong, as was internal consistency on applicable scales. Criterion-related validity of the CAMI’s composite abuse severity scores was supported through predicted discriminative correlations with subscales of the CTQ. The CAMI subscales showed comparable or weaker associations with measures of social desirability than did the CTQ. Although both measures were more strongly associated with a need for approval than other aspects of social desirability, these correlations were still rather low in magnitude and in a range typical of many clinical measures. Conclusions: The present findings as well as the rich descriptive data and flexibility offered by computer administration suggest that the CAMI is a promising instrument for the comprehensive assessment of maltreatment history from adults