Development and Initial Validation of the Intimate Violence Responsibility Scale (IVRS)

The present study demonstrates the development and initial examination of psychometric properties of the Intimate Violence Responsibility Scale (IVRS) in a community-based sample (N = 527). The underlying factor structure of the IVRS was tested by the exploratory factor analysis (Principal Axis Factoring), which identifies the four factors: partner blame, distal blame, minimization, and violence recognition. The internal consistency of the four subscales of the 20-item IVRS had an acceptable-to-good coefficient alpha ranging from .75 to .83. Evidence for the convergent and discriminant validity was established through correlational analyses. The initial findings of this study support that the IVRS is a reliable and valid self-reporting instrument that measures attitudes related to responsibility for violent behavior toward the intimate partner. Implications for practice and future research are specified.