The development and validation of the Cyber Dating Abuse Questionnaire among young couples

Abstract

Cyber dating abuse is a growing phenomenon that has awakened little empirical interest. This study had two objectives: (1) to analyze the psychometric properties of the Cyber Dating Abuse Questionnaire (CDAQ), which is an instrument developed to comprehensively measure this phenomenon; and (2) to conduct an initial analysis of the prevalence and frequency of this type of abuse. The sample consisted of 788 young people between 18 and 30 years of age (77.3% women, mean age = 22.72 years, SD = 4.9). First, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyzes revealed a structure composed of two factors for the scales of victimization and for perpetration: direct aggression (an aggressive act with a deliberate intention to hurt the partner/ex-partner, such as insults or threats) and monitoring/control (the use of electronic means to control the partner/ex-partner; for example, the use of personal passwords). Second, the analysis of the relationship between cyber dating abuse and other variables, such as offline physical and psychological violence and cyberbullying, provided additional evidence for the construct validity of the instrument. Third, the reliability analysis (Cronbach’s alpha) revealed an adequate internal consistency for the scale. Finally, the prevalence of direct aggression was higher than 10%, and the prevalence of control was greater than 70%, which indicate that both types of cyber abuse seem to be common behaviors among young couples. Finally, the contribution of the present study to previous empirical research and future research is discussed.