Responses to simulated intimate partner aggression in a multi-ethnic sample: The development and evaluation of the Partner Conflict Scenarios assessment instrument

The assessment of intimate partner aggression has been limited in several ways. First, assessment instruments have consisted primarily of self-report questionnaires that are susceptible to social desirability and recall biases. Second, standardized, context-based methods of assessment for use in treatment outcome research have not been developed despite early reports that indicated the need for them. And finally, standardized methods of assessment appropriate for ethnic minority populations have not been developed. The purpose of the present study was to develop and examine initial psychometric properties of an analogue behavioral observation assessment instrument, the Partner Conflict Scenarios (PCS). The PCS was designed to obtain qualitative and quantitative treatment outcome measures with men who receive treatment for intimate partner aggression. Five studies were conducted to develop and validate the PCS. Study I developed a semi-structured interview to identify situations that frequently lead to intimate partner aggression. Study 2 implemented the semi-structured interview with 30 males and females from mixed ethnic backgrounds who reported partner aggression to derive data to construct written partner conflict scenarios. Fifty-eight hypothetical scenarios were written and subjected to an expert review in Study 3. The expert review resulted in 5 final scenarios that met content validity criteria for inclusion as the PCS stimulus items. Study 4 implemented the PCS among 40 men court-mandated to domestic violence treatment and 40 non-aggressive men from the community. One-way ANOVAs revealed non-significant between-group differences across the 9 PCS dependent measures of behavioral competency, irrational beliefs, and emotional reactions. In addition, the PCS did not correlate with another measure of intimate partner aggression, the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. Thus, evidence was not found for the discriminative and convergent validity of the PCS. The PCS did not correlate with the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale which supported its discriminant validity, and it also demonstrated adequate internal consistency. Study 5 examined the temporal stability of the PCS with 10 men from the Study 4 sample. Findings indicated stability in responses to the PCS over a 24 week interval. Implications of the present findings and methodological limitations are reviewed.