Description:
The Conflict Tactics Scales, Parent-Child Version
(CTSPC) is intended to measure psychological and physical
maltreatment and neglect of children by parents, as well as
non-violent modes of discipline. It measures the extent to
which a parent has carried out specific acts of physical and
psychological aggression, regardless of whether the child
was injured. Variables are measured on three scales: Non-Violent
Discipline, Psychological Aggression, and Physical Assault,
as well as supplemental scales that measure Weekly Discipline,
Neglect, and Sexual Abuse.
Uses of Information: The CTSPC may be used as a screening
tool for child maltreatment or for evaluating prevention and
treatment of physical and psychological maltreatment of children.
Reliability:
(1) Internal reliability (Cronbach’s alphas): Overall
Physical Assault Scale: .55; Psychological Aggression: .60;
Nonviolent Discipline: .70; Neglect Scale: .22; Severe Physical
Assault Subscale: -.02. The authors attribute the low neglect
and severe assault alphas to the infrequency of the events
that make up the scales, thereby reducing the likelihood for
high inter-item correlations. (2) Test-retest reliability
is not yet available for the CTSPC. However, the test-retest
reliability coefficients on the original CTS (test interval
not specified) ranged from .49 to .80.
Validity:
The authors tested for construct validity by examining the
direction of the relationship between subscale scores and
demographic characteristics associated with child maltreatment,
such as age of parent, age of child, race/ethnicity, and gender
of parent. The directions of the relationships were consistent
with previous findings.
Method of Scoring: Most of the
scales can be scored four ways: (1) Annual prevalence, which
measures whether one or more acts in the scale occurred during
past year; (2) annual chronicity, which measures the number
of times an act in a scale occurred among those who used that
act; (3) ever prevalence, which measures if an act ever occurred;
and (4) annual frequency, which measures the number of times
an act occurred. To obtain the frequency, the midpoints for
the response categories chosen by the participant are summed.
Interpretability: Normative
tables for the CTSPC have not yet been developed.
Training Support: None described.
Adaptations/Special Instructions for Individuals with Disabilities:
None described.
Report Preparation Support: None described. References:
Straus, M.A., S. L. Hamby, D. Finkelhor, D.W. Moore, and
D. Runyan. “Identification of Child Maltreatment With
the Parent-Child Conflict Tactics Scales: Development and
Psychometric Data for a National Sample of American Parents.”
Child Abuse & Neglect, vol. 22, no. 4. 1998.
Straus, Murray A. “Scoring and Norms for the CTS2 and
CTSPC. pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CTS28.pdf., 1998.
Straus, Murray A. “Child-Report, Adult-Recall, and
Sibling Versions of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales.”
pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CTS24.pdf, 1999.
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