Development and validation of the intention to report child abuse tool: A psychometric research study

Background: There is a lack of comprehensive and concisely validated tools to measure schoolteachers' intention to report child abuse and neglect in an Arabic context. This study aims to develop and evaluate the validity and reliability of the Intention to Report Child Abuse Tool (IRCAT) to measure schoolteachers' intentions to report child abuse and neglect. Methods: The framework proposed by Benson and Clark (1982) was used to guide scale development. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and literature review guided the construction of the IRCAT items. Total of 653 Arab female schoolteachers from 200 cycle 1 education schools in Oman were recruited in the study using convenience sampling technique. The validity of the tool was determined by assessing its face validity, content validity, and construct validity. Psychometric properties were tested using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Inter-item correlations and internal consistency were used to determine the reliability of the tool. Results: The newly developed IRCAT demonstrated excellent face and content validity. Using EFA, four factors (i.e., attitudes, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, and intention to report) were determined for construct validity (KMO = 0.92). The tool also showed good overall internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.82) and acceptable inter-item correlations (varied between 0.003 and 0.62, with about 20% of the correlation coefficients below 0.1). Conclusion: This study suggests that the IRCAT is a valid and reliable tool to assess schoolteachers' intention to report child abuse and neglect in an Arabic context. Implications to practice: IRCAT tool can be utilized by researchers and practitioners interested in investigating the phenomenon of child abuse.