Will They Tell? Assessing Preadolescents' Reports of Family Violence

Abstract

In the process of collecting data on parental violence scholars are relying increasingly on youth reports of intrafamilial victimizations. However, remarkably little is known about the quality or accuracy of these victimization reports. In this study, the Conflict Tactics Scale was administered to 50 women seeking help for domestic abuse and their preadolescent children and 50 nonclinical mothers and their children. These data were used to examine the concurrent validity and reliability of youth reports of victimization and observation of spousal violence. The accuracy of children's reports of victimization appear to be influenced both by the salience of the event and by contextual differences in their environments. By contrast, observational reports of spousal violence are influenced by the recall period. The methodological implications of using children as respondents are discussed and appropriate directions for future research are considered.