Psychometric Properties of the Violence Scale (EV) in Colombian Men

Intimate partner violence is a public health and human rights issue that must be addressed and measured to inform care and prevention efforts. The Violence Scale (EV) is used to assess different types of violence; however, there is no evidence of its validity and reliability in Colombia, nor are there specific studies on men. Objective: To evaluate the metric properties of the Partner Violence Scale (EV, by its Spanish acronym) in men within the Colombian community context. Methodology: Content validation was carried out with expert judges and victims of partner violence. Subsequently, the EV was tested on a sample of 1293 Colombian men who had not reported/denounced partner violence. Confirmatory factor analyses were performed using rival models to evaluate the best-fitting factor structure, along with mean variance extracted analysis as an indicator of convergent validity and reliability analysis. Results: Every tested structure for organizing intimate partner violence showed adequate fit indicators (CFI > 0.95; TLI > 0.95). However, the lowest level of error was evident in the five-factor structure (psychological, physical, severe physical, economic, and sexual violence; RMSEA = 0.009; SRMR = 0.080). All items were loaded by the factor to which they belong, and all loadings were significant (p < 0.005). The extracted mean variances exceeded 40%, and there were high reliability indicators for the total test (>0.94) and for each factor (>0.70). Conclusion: The Violence Scale(EV) provides adequate evidence of validity and reliability to be used as a tool for assessing violent behaviors experienced by Colombian men. Its use is recommended as an instrument for highlighting violence that has been normalized due to the socio-cultural barriers that men face.