Reliability and validity of a modified New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS2) family violence questionnaire in the Canadian population

Existing instruments measuring intimate partner violence (IPV) are generally lengthy and impose significant respondent burden. This study aimed to develop and validate a concise instrument using the New Zealand Crime and Victims Survey (NZCVS) questionnaire for the Canadian context. Several modifications were made to adapt the original NZCVS questionnaire into the NZCVS2 version. Instead of one single question, with 9 behavioral items capturing victimization using Yes/No responses, the NZCVS was reformulated into 18 questions capturing both perpetration and victimization separately, with responses collected on a 7-point frequency Likert scale. The final instrument comprises 9 items per direction, grouped into psychological (5), physical (2), and sexual (2) violence. A population-based sample of 1,377 adults from Quebec completed the 18-item NZCVS2, which assesses perpetration and victimization of psychological, physical, and sexual violence, alongside the established Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2). Psychometric properties, including internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha and McDonald’s omega), construct validity (exploratory factor analysis with split-sample cross-validation), and concurrent validity, were analyzed. NZCVS2 demonstrated excellent reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha of 0.899 for perpetration and 0.873 for victimization scales, corroborated by McDonald’s omega (ω = 0.942 and 0.937, respectively). An exploratory factor analysis, cross-validated using an independent split-sample confirmatory approach, supported a single underlying factor for both the perpetration and victimization scales, underscoring the instrument’s construct validity. Concurrent validity was strong, with significant correlations between the NZCVS2 and corresponding CTS2 scales (r = .62 for perpetration; r = .65 for victimization). NZCVS2 presents a brief, reliable, and valid tool for assessing IPV. Its strong psychometric properties and reduced length make it a practical alternative to longer instruments like the CTS2 for use in large-scale surveys and time-sensitive settings where minimizing respondent burden is a priority.