Spanish Adaptation and Validation of the World Health Organization’s Violence Against Women Instrument

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) developed an instrument to detect violence against women that has been widely used in several countries. Despite this instrument’s importance in identifying intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW), it has not been adapted for the Spanish population. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate the WHO violence against women instrument in a sample in Spain, facilitating the detection of IPVAW in this context and comparisons between countries. Method: After the instrument was translated and adapted into Spanish, 532 women from the general population in Spain completed it. The initial instrument consisted of 28 items. We deleted three items due to low internal consistency, resulting in 25 items in the final version. Results: Suitable internal consistency was obtained through Confirmatory Factorial Analysis for physical (α = .92), psychological (α = .91), sexual (α = .86), and control behaviors subscales (α = .91) as well as for the total scale (α = .95). The instrument revealed highly prevalent IPVAW in our sample (79.7%). Conclusions: The use of the Spanish version of the WHO violence against women instrument in Spain seems justified.

La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) desarrolló un instrumento para detectar la violencia de género (VG) que ha sido ampliamente utilizado en varios países. A pesar de la importancia del instrumento para identificar la VG, éste no ha sido adaptado en población española. El objetivo de este estudio fue adaptar y validar el instrumento de VG de la OMS en España, facilitando la detección de la VG en este contexto y la comparación entre países. Método: 532 mujeres de la población general en España completaron el instrumento tras su traducción y adaptación al español. El instrumento inicial constaba de 28 ítems. Se eliminaron tres ítems debido a su baja consistencia interna, resultando un total de 25 ítems en la versión final. Resultados: Se obtuvo una adecuada consistencia interna mediante el análisis factorial confirmatorio para las subescalas de violencia física (α = .92), psicológica (α = .91), sexual (α = .86) y en conductas de control (α = .91), así como en la escala total (α = .95). El instrumento reveló alta prevalencia de VG (79,7%). Conclusiones: El uso de la versión española del instrumento de VG contra las mujeres de la OMS, justifican su uso en España.