A Short Form of the Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA-SF)

The original and long-form Measure of Adolescent Relationship Harassment and Abuse (MARSHA) was previously found to be a valid and reliable measurement of adolescent dating abuse (ADA) and addresses limitations of other ADA assessment tools. However, the MARSHA may be prohibitively long for researchers and clinicians who need a more concise ADA assessment tool. The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of a short form of the MARSHA (MARSHA-SF). The MARSHA-SF includes seven victimization items and seven parallel perpetration items covering multiple aspects of ADA, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, and intimidation. Using a cross-sectional design, we evaluated the MARSHA-SF through an online survey administered to a national sample of 688 adolescents aged 13 to 21 who reported dating, hooking up with, or being in a romantic relationship within the past year. To evaluate the MARSHA-SF, we used confirmatory factor analysis and assessed concurrent validity with the Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory (CADRI) and divergent validity with the Ego-Resiliency Scale (ER89). Results showed that both MARSHA-SF victimization and perpetration measures had good factor loadings and model fit, along with good internal consistency across age groups. Both MARSHA-SF victimization and perpetration scores were also strongly and positively correlated with the MARSHA long form and CADRI scores. These findings show that the MARSHA-SF is an effective assessment tool for researchers looking to quickly assess ADA victimization and/or perpetration. The MARSHA-SF offers researchers and clinicians several benefits, including that it incorporates modern forms of ADA such as pressure to send nude photos, was designed to capture ADA across multiple stages of adolescence, specifically excludes adolescent joking or playful behaviors, and was validated using a national and demographically diverse sample of adolescents.