Psychological Violence in Relationships (PAR) Scale
The Psychological Violence in Relationships (PAR) Scale is a research tool that measures the victimisation and impact of psychological abuse in relationships. Psychological abuse and violence can be defined as behaviours in a relationship that occur along a continuum of increasing severity, from verbal aggression, to control and isolation. Psychological abuse may precede or cooccur with other types of violence, acting as an essential agent in an environment where physical and sexual intimate partner violence is introduced and maintained. Psychological abuse is the most prevalent dimension of intimate partner violence.
The PAR Scale was created to address the challenges and gaps of previous psychological abuse measures, building upon scale development work to date, and in consultation with lived experience and academic experts. It was validated among a sample of 765 adult women in Australia. The PAR is a contemporary, concise and comprehensive 20-item measure of psychological IPV that exhibits evidence of validity and reliability. The PAR should improve the ability of researchers to identify this common and harmful type of abuse.A full description of the development and validation of the PAR Scale can be found in the publication:
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Severe Psychological Abuse (7 items)
Punished or deprived the children to hurt me
Told me that they would kill me/my children*
Threatened to take the children from me*
Restricted access to essentials of daily living (e.g. food, phones, transport, housing, aids, visa/passport or spiritual practice)
Threatened to harm family pets*
Interfered with my health care (e.g. treatment for physical or mental health or alcohol and other drug issues)
Tried to damage my relationship with my child/ren*
Coercive Emotional Abuse (5 items)
Frightened me by screaming or breaking things
Threatened to destroy things
Put me down or humiliated me in front of others
Told me I imagined things or denied their own behaviour
Drove erratically/dangerously when I or my child/ren were in the car
Restrictive Isolating Abuse (5 items)
Controlled my day-to-day activities (e.g. where I go and what I do)
Kept track of where I was/who I was with (e.g. GPS tracking, monitoring social media or by phoning me)
Monitored my day-to-day activities or what I did with my time
Was jealous and possessive
Tried to keep me from socialising with family or friends
Financial Abuse (3 items)
Used our money/made important financial decisions without talking to me
Controlled my access to money
Took our/my money and made me worry about not having enough
Introduction to the scale and frequency
Introduction
We would like to know if you have experienced any of these non-physical behaviours listed below from any partner or ex-partner during the last 12-months? (By ‘partner or ex-partner’ we mean partner, boy/girlfriend, husband/wife for longer than 1 month since you were aged 16 years)
Frequency
Not in the past 12 months [0], Once [1], A few times [2], Monthly [3], Weekly [4], Daily/almost daily [5]
* Not applicable [0], Not in the past 12 months [0], Once [1], A few times [2], Monthly [3], Weekly [4], Daily/almost daily [5]
Behavioural impact items*
How scared did this behaviour make you feel?
Not at all [0], Slightly [1], Moderately [2], Very [3], Extremely [4]
How controlled (by your partner/ex-partner) did this behaviour make you feel?
Not at all [0], Slightly [1], Moderately [2], Very [3], Extremely [4]
* Please note, the PAR Scale frequency measure can be used with or without asking about impact (scared/controlled). as seen in Administration and Scoring.
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A preliminary scoring guide for the PAR Scale has been developed based on consensus cut-off scoring by the research team. Further sensitivity and specificity testing may lead to future PAR Scale scoring changes in the future.
Each PAR item contains a possible frequency range of 0 to 5. Within each subscale, the possible range is:
- Severe Psychological Abuse (0–35)
- Coercive Emotional Abuse (0–25)
- Restrictive Isolating Abuse (0–25)
- Financial Abuse (0–15)
Subscales are not independent, individuals can score across any or all. Individuals are categorized as experiencing psychological abuse if they score:
- ≥1 on the Severe Psychological Abuse items
- ≥2 on the Coercive Emotional Abuse items
- ≥2 on the Restrictive Isolating Abuse items
- ≥2 on the Financial Abuse items
The presence or absence of reaching the cut-off threshold in one or more PAR dimensions can be used to indicate the proportion of psychological IPV survivors in the last 12 months (prevalence).
The scale should be used intact as a 20-item scale; the validity and reliability established for the PAR Scale as a whole may not generalize to subscales used in isolation or to the use of items selected from subscales.
Administering scale with individuals who do not have children and/or pets
Three items in this measure are about children, and one is about pets:
- Told me that they would kill me/my children
- Threatened to take the children from me
- Tried to damage my relationship with my child/ren
- Threatened to harm family pets
By adding an additional frequency label of “not applicable” next to only these items, people without children and/or pets can complete the scale in its current form using the same scoring conventions.
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