Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal of Five of the Most Recurrently Validated Child Maltreatment Assessment Instruments from 2010 to 2020.

Assessment of child maltreatment has been inconsistent across literature due to its complexity, multidimensionality, and the variety of conceptualizations of this construct. Five instruments have recurrently examined psychometric properties across the last years of research: Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure, Child Abuse Potential Inventory, Identification of Parents at Risk for child Abuse and Neglect, and Psychosocial Screening Tool. This article aims to examine and wrap up the knowledge regarding the psychometric properties of these instruments. A systematic review was performed through three of the most relevant databases in order to identify the most validated instruments to assess child maltreatment from 2010 to 2020, and 19 research articles were identified. Results indicate that there is a lack of information regarding some psychometric properties and therefore, in the light of this information, it is not possible to clearly determine if there are instruments with stronger scientific evidence for their psychometric properties, although the Maltreatment and Abuse Chronology of Exposure Scale (MACE) obtained the strongest psychometric evidence. This systematic review provided a comprehensive review on the main psychometric properties of five child maltreatment instruments in order to facilitate researchers and child welfare professionals the selection of the most suitable instrument for their specific purpose. We recommend addressing these gaps of information by further examining the psychometric properties of these instruments, and developing valid and reliable instruments for early detection in child maltreatment.

Effectiveness of a mobile app intervention to prevent dating violence in residential child care / La eficacia de una intervención con aplicación móvil sobre actitudes asociadas a la violencia de pareja en los adolescentes de centros de acogida

This study focuses on the effectiveness of an app-based, monitored intervention using the Liad@s app in a residential youth-care SETTING: The aim of this intervention is to reduce maladaptive beliefs and attitudes linked to dating violence: distortions or myths about romantic love and hostile and benevolent dimensions of sexism. A quasi-experimental pre-post study with a control group was carried out. Participants were 71 adolescents from 9 group homes in Valencia (Spain). The outcomes measures were hostile and benevolent sexism (Ambivalent Sexism Inventory - ASI), ambivalence and prejudice towards men (Ambivalence toward Men Inventory - AMI), and myths about romantic love. The results of the intervention were assessed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). A post-intervention, statistically significant reduction with a medium-large effect size was observed in all dimensions for the treatment group, with eta-square of .25 for the sexism dimensions, .38 for myths, and .21 for ambivalence and prejudices. The experimental group demonstrated significantly more change than the control group on all measures. The benefits of the intervention did not vary by participants' sex. These results may be helpful to professionals involved in child and youth care, who can profit from adolescents' proclivity toward online communication

Este estudio se centra en la de eficacia de una intervención monitorizada, basada en el uso de la app Liad@s en centros de acogida para jóvenes. El objetivo de esta intervención es reducir creencias desadaptativas y actitudes asociadas a violencia en las relaciones de pareja: mitos del amor romántico y sexismo tanto en su dimensión hostil como benévola. Se realizó un estudio pre-post cuasi experimental con grupo control. Participaron 71 adolescentes de 9 centros de acogida de Valencia (España). Se tomaron medidas del cambio en sexismo hostil y benévolo (Inventario de Sexismo Ambivalente - ASI), de ambivalencia y prejuicio hacia los hombres (Inventario Ambivalencia hacia Hombres - AMI) y medida de mitos del amor romántico. Los resultados de la intervención fueron evaluados usando MANOVA (análisis multivariado de varianza). Se obtuvo una reducción significativa con tamaño del efecto entre medio y grande en todas las dimensiones esperadas en el grupo que usó la app. Las etas cuadrado fueron de .25 para las dimensiones de sexismo, .38 para mitos y .21 para ambivalencia y prejuicios. El grupo experimental mostró significativamente más cambio que el control en todas las medidas. Las ventajas de la intervención no varían en función del sexo de los participantes. Estos resultados pueden ser útiles para profesionales implicados en atención y cuidado a jóvenes, quienes pueden beneficiarse a su vez de su facilidad para comunicarse online