Development and Validation of a Coercive Control Measure for Intimate Partner Violence in Boston, Massachusetts and Washington, DC, 2004

The overall goals of this project were to develop a clear theoretical understanding of coercive control and to develop a measure of "nonviolent coercive control" for use in the measurement of intimate partner violence (IPV). The psychometric properties of the newly developed coercive control measure were assessed between February and September 2004 in a total sample of 757 that included 302 males and 448 females from the metropolitan Washington, DC, and Boston areas. Of this sample, 139 reporting IPV victimization only, 39 reported IPV perpetration only, 245 reported both IPV victimization and perpetration, and 334 reported neither IPV victimization nor perpetration. Respondents were recruited from community agencies involving identified IPV victims and perpetrators, agencies providing non-IPV services to demographically similar participants, community college settings, and general public community settings, e.g., fast food restaurants. The sample was a convenience, not a representative, sample. Selection criteria included the following: (1) involvement in an intimate partner relationship within the past 12 months, and (2) being 18 years of age or older. Respondents were excluded if they exhibited signs of intoxication or other indications of a lack of coherence sufficient to complete the survey. Both data files contain demographic information. Respondents were asked several series of questions including those pertaining to demands received from their partner, whether their partner did anything to find out if the respondent had done what the partner had demanded, if their partner made them feel the partner might do something if the respondent did not do what the partner wanted, and whether they had done certain things when their partner demanded something. Respondents were then asked the same series of questions conversely. Respondents were read a statement and asked how often they felt this way in the past month, asked whether in the last 12 months they had experienced certain physical abuse or abused their partner physically, and they were asked whether in the last 12 months they had experienced certain types of emotional abuse or had abused their partner emotionally. Respondents were read a series of statements regarding their relationships with people in general and asked to tell whether the statement was true or false, asked how often they had experienced problems in response to a trauma, and asked how likely their partner might attempt to abuse the respondent in specific ways in the next year.

本项目的总体目标为：清晰阐明强制控制（coercive control）的理论内涵，并开发一款用于衡量亲密伴侣暴力（intimate partner violence, IPV）的“非暴力强制控制”测量工具。2004年2月至9月期间，研究人员针对总计757名受试者评估了新开发的强制控制量表的心理测量学特性（psychometric properties），该样本涵盖来自华盛顿都会区与波士顿地区的302名男性与448名女性。其中，139人仅报告曾遭受亲密伴侣暴力侵害，39人仅报告曾实施亲密伴侣暴力，245人同时报告实施与遭受该类暴力，334人既未实施也未遭受亲密伴侣暴力。受试者招募自多类渠道：包括涵盖已确认的亲密伴侣暴力受害者与施害者的社区机构、为人口统计学特征相似的参与者提供非亲密伴侣暴力服务的机构、社区学院场所，以及大众社区场景（例如快餐店）。本样本属于方便抽样（convenience sample），而非代表性抽样样本。入选标准包含两项：（1）过去12个月内处于亲密伴侣关系中；（2）年满18周岁。若受试者表现出醉酒迹象或其他无法连贯完成问卷的情况，则予以排除。两份数据文件均包含人口统计学信息。受试者需完成多组问题：包括涉及伴侣提出的要求、伴侣是否会核查其是否履行要求、伴侣是否会以实施某种行为相威胁迫使受试者服从要求，以及受试者在伴侣提出要求时是否采取了特定行为。随后，受试者需完成反向表述的同款系列问题。研究人员会向受试者朗读一段陈述，询问其在过去一个月内产生此类感受的频率；询问其在过去12个月内是否遭受过特定身体虐待，或曾对伴侣实施身体虐待；同时询问其在过去12个月内是否遭受过特定类型的情感虐待，或曾对伴侣实施情感虐待。此外，受试者会听到一系列关于其与他人普遍关系的陈述，需判断陈述真伪；被问及创伤后问题的发生频率；以及被询问其伴侣在未来一年内以特定方式对其实施虐待的可能性。