"What does that mean?": The content validity of the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool - Child version (ICAST-C) in Romania, South Africa, and the Philippines

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Lakshmi Neelakantan, Fry, D., Florian, L., Silion, D., Filip, M., Thabeng, M., Te, K., Sunglao, J. A., Lu, M., Ward, C. L., Baban, A., Jocson, R. M., Alampay, L., & Meinck, F. (2022). "What does that mean?": The content validity of the ISPCAN Child Abuse Screening Tool - Child version (ICAST-C) in Romania, South Africa, and the Philippines. Child Abuse & Neglect, 134, Article 105869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105869
Author
Lakshmi Neelakantan
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Fry, Deborah
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Florian, Lani
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Silion, Doriana
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Filip, Madalina
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Thabeng, Mildred
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Te, Kathlyn
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Sunglao, Jun Angelo
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Lu, Mengyao
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Ward, Catherine L.
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Baban, Adriana
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Jocson, Rosanne M. 
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Alampay, Liane
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Meinck, Franziska
Abstract
Background The International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (ISPCAN) Child Abuse Screening Tool (Children's Version), known as the ICAST-C Version 3, is used widely to assess violence against children, but there is limited psychometric evidence, especially on content validity. Objective This study aimed to assess the content validity of the ICAST-C with adolescents in Romania, South Africa, and the Philippines. Methods A purposive sample of adolescents (N = 53, 51 % female) were recruited from urban areas in Romania, the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, and Metro Manila, Philippines. Semi-structured one-on-one in-depth cognitive interviews sought adolescent perspectives on the relevance, comprehensibility, and comprehensiveness of the ICAST-C. Data were analysed using template analysis. Results The ICAST-C was broadly perceived to be relevant and comprehensive in measuring violence against children in all study locations. However, there were issues with the comprehensibility of the measure, described at three levels: interpreting items, undertaking coherent elaborations of relevant behaviors and places, and generating a coherent response to the questions. Conclusions Suggestions to revise the ICAST-C include, among others, adding a practice or how-to section on answering the survey, clarifying the intent of questions, especially on neglect and sexual abuse, emphasizing that questions cover all locations, and asking more positive questions. Pilot studies testing the content validity and cultural appropriateness are needed as a matter of practice in large self-report surveys.
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Date Issued
2022
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect
DOI
10.1016/j.chiabu.2022.105869
Grant ID
ES/N017447/1
852787
ES/S008101/1
Funding Agency
Economic and Social Research Council under a Future Research Leader Award
University of Edinburgh
European Research Council (ERC)
UK Research and Innovation Global Challenges Research Fund