The measure of wife abuse: steps toward the development of a comprehensive assessment technique

The Measure of Wife Abuse (MWA) was developed using empirical methods of construction to improve on previously developed instruments, enabling the MWA to assess a broader range of wife abuse behaviors. A study is reported that sought to determine the factor structure of the MWA items, & to assess its reliability & validity. Confirmatory multiple group factor analyses of the MWA responses of 164 abused women yielded 4 factors: physical, sexual, psychological, & verbal abuse. The MWA is shown to possess adequate levels of both reliability, estimated from its internal consistency, & concurrent validity, with the Conflict Tactics Scales as the criterion measure. 5 Tables, 1 Appendix, 42 References. Adapted from the source document.