Development and psychometric validation of the women’s empowerment in dealing with intimate partner violence (WED-IPV) scale: a mixed-method study
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to develop and psychometrically validate a culturally sensitive instrument, the women's empowerment in dealing with intimate partner violence (WED-IPV) scale, in Iran. DESIGN: A mixed-methods research study to collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data. SETTING: Social emergency centres, healthcare centres and psychotherapy clinics in three Iranian metropolises. PARTICIPANTS: The participants were 31 married women in the qualitative phase and 420 in the quantitative phase. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the validation of the WED-IPV scale, including the assessment of face, content, construct validity and the assessment of internal consistency through Cronbach's alpha, test-retest reliability through intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and stability of the factor structure. Secondary outcomes included the assessment of WED-IPV indicators in women using values obtained from levels specified according to the Interval of SD from the Mean formula for each indicator and total empowerment. RESULTS: The scale development process refined the initial 72 items down to 28 key items through expert review and validity testing. Exploratory factor analysis identified five factors: self-esteem, attitude, self-efficacy, access to support resources and economic empowerment that explained 65.72% of the variance. The scale showed excellent reliability (Cronbach's α=0.97; ICC=0.95) and valid associations with related measures. Analysis of completed questionnaires of 412 women revealed that a significant portion scored low or moderate in each domain: 41% in self-esteem, 35% in self-efficacy, 39% in attitude, 47% in access to support and 45% in economic empowerment. CONCLUSIONS: The WED-IPV scale is a psychometrically robust, reliable and valid instrument for assessing women's empowerment concerning IPV in Iranian contexts. Its brevity and user-friendly design facilitate routine application in primary and secondary care settings. Future research should explore cross-cultural validation and predictive validity in longitudinal studies to inform targeted interventions and policy formulation.
Source: BMJ Open
Institution: Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,839
OpenAlex ID: W4414840932