A scoping study on measures of child-to-parent violence

Abstract

The assessment of child-to-parent violence (CPV) is one of the remaining challenges to making progress in the understanding and treatment of this phenomenon. The aim was to map research relating to CPV assessment, in order to get a picture about the current status of available instruments to measure this phenomenon. It has been made a scoping study and analyzed the methodological quality of identified instruments in accordance with COSMIN standards. Two reviews were undertaken in this research covering peer-review articles published in English and Spanish from 2000 to 2018: (1) a scoping review through searches of databases (Web of Science, PsycINFO, Scopus, ERIC, Dialnet Plus) to identify the instruments that are currently used for the assessment of CPV; (2) and a second review (using Web of Science and PsycINFO) used to summarize the methodological characteristics on these instruments. Six instruments were identified, but only two instruments specifically assess it. Respect to methodology quality of the instruments, we found psychometric studies for three instruments, focused on their internal consistency. More instruments that measure CPV need to be developed and rigorously validated. It is questionable whether existing measures focused on interpersonal conflict or violence can be used for the assessment of CPV.