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Citation
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Jeong B, Lee SW, Lee JS, Yoo JH, Kim KW, Cho S, Ahn JY, Choi J. Psychiatry Investig. 2015; 12(2): 190-196. |
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Affiliation
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Department of Psychiatry, Daejeon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine, Daejeon, Republic of Korea. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Korean Verbal Abuse Questionnaire (K-VAQ) that consists of 15 items related with life-time verbal aggression exposure.
METHODS: A total of 5814 university students who agreed to take part in the study completed the K-VAQ, the Korean version of the Life Event CheckList (LEC-K) and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (K-IES-R). Internal consistency was checked by using item-total item correlation and Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed, and convergent and concurrent validity levels were examined. Finally, a cluster analysis was conducted to verify the validity of the cutoff point of the K-VAQ.
RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficient was 0.9. The K-VAQ showed a single factor structure which explained 55.34% of the total variance. The K-VAQ was significantly associated with the LEC-K (r=0.24) and K-IES-R (r=0.28), indicating good convergent validity and concurrent validity. The cluster analysis provided four clusters of trauma experiences: high, moderate, low, and minimal, with K-VAQ ranges of 43-81, 20-42, 7-19, and 0-6, respectively. In a further investigation, a K-VAQ score of 40 was found to be the appropriate cutoff point to delineate the highly verbally abused group, as used in the previous studies. A sum of 36.5% of the highly verbally abused group reported to show substantial symptoms of PTSD (K-IES-R score >22).
CONCLUSION: The present findings suggest that the K-VAQ has good psychometric properties for assessing verbal aggression among the Korean population.
Language: en |