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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: The Inventory of Psychosocial Difficulties in survivors of Abusive Groups (IPD-AG) is a self-administered questionnaire measuring psychological and social difficulties in survivors of social groups that are high-demand, manipulative, totalitarian, or abusive toward their members. The aim of the present study was to describe the development of the IPD-AG and its psychometric properties using classical test theory and item response theory.
METHOD: An online questionnaire was administered to 855 former members of different types of groups, 542 victims of group psychological abuse and 313 non-victims.
RESULTS: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a four-factor model with a second-order factor structure. These four dimensions, which have theoretical and empirical support, are Emotional Difficulties, Cognitive Difficulties, Relational Difficulties, and Problematic Behaviors. Item response theory analysis showed high discrimination and adequate range of difficulty parameters. The measure seems to be more precise among former members of abusive groups who have low and moderate-high levels of psychosocial difficulties.
RESULTS also showed that victims had a significantly higher rates of psychosocial difficulties than non-victims. Furthermore, significant correlations were found between IPD-AG scores and measures of experienced group psychological abuse, psychopathological symptoms, and social adaptation.
CONCLUSIONS: The IPD-AG was found to be a suitable instrument for exhaustively measuring specific psychological and social difficulties in survivors of abusive groups, creating new possibilities for identification, prevention, and treatment purposes in clinical settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Language: en |