School of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong).
JMIR Form Res. 2024 Nov 19;8:e65199. doi: 10.2196/65199.
Technology-facilitated sexual violence and abuse (TFSVA) encompasses a range of behaviors where digital technologies are used to enable both virtual and in-person sexual violence. Given that TFSVA is an emerging and continually evolving form of sexual abuse, it has been challenging to establish a universally accepted definition or to develop standardized measures for its assessment.
This study aimed to address the significant gap in research on TFSVA within the Chinese context. Specifically, it sought to develop a TFSVA measurement tool with robust content validity, tailored for use in subsequent epidemiological studies within the Chinese context.
The first step in developing the measurement approach for TFSVA victimization and perpetration was to conduct a thorough literature review of existing empirical research on TFSVA and relevant measurement tools. After the initial generation of items, all the items were reviewed by an expert panel to assess the face validity. The measurement items were further reviewed by potential research participants, who were recruited through snowball sampling via online platforms. The assessment results were quantified by computing the content validity index (CVI). The participants were asked to rate each scale item in terms of its relevance, appropriateness, and clarity regarding the topic.
The questionnaire was reviewed by 24 lay experts, with a mean age of 27.96 years. They represented different genders and sexual orientations. The final questionnaire contained a total of 89 items. Three key domains were identified to construct the questionnaire, which included image-based sexual abuse, nonimage-based TFSVA, and online-initiated physical sexual violence. The overall scale CVI values of relevance, appropriateness, and clarity for the scale were 0.90, 0.96, and 0.97, respectively, which indicated high content validity for all the instrument items. To ensure the measurement accurately reflects the experiences of diverse demographic groups, the content validity was further analyzed by gender and sexual orientation. This analysis revealed variations in item validity among participants from different genders and sexual orientations. For instance, heterosexual male respondents showed a particularly low CVI for relevance of 0.20 in the items related to nudity, including "male's chest/nipples are visible" and "the person is sexually suggestive." This underscored the importance of an inclusive approach when developing a measurement for TFSVA.
This study greatly advances the assessment of TFSVA by examining the content validity of our newly developed measurement. The findings revealed that our measurement tool demonstrated adequate content validity, thereby providing a strong foundation for assessing TFSVA within the Chinese context. Implementing this tool is anticipated to enhance our understanding of TFSVA and aid in the development of effective interventions to combat this form of abuse.
技术促进的性暴力和虐待（TFSVA）涵盖了一系列行为，其中数字技术被用于实现虚拟和现实中的性暴力。鉴于 TFSVA 是一种新兴且不断发展的性虐待形式，因此很难建立普遍接受的定义或开发用于评估其的标准化措施。
本研究旨在解决中国语境下 TFSVA 研究中的重大差距。具体而言，它旨在开发一种具有强大内容效度的 TFSVA 测量工具，专门用于中国语境下的后续流行病学研究。
开发 TFSVA 受害和施害测量方法的第一步是对 TFSVA 及相关测量工具的现有实证研究进行全面的文献回顾。在初步生成项目后，由一个专家小组对所有项目进行评估，以评估表面效度。测量项目还由通过在线平台进行滚雪球抽样招募的潜在研究参与者进行了审查。通过计算内容效度指数（CVI）对评估结果进行量化。要求参与者根据主题的相关性、适当性和清晰度对每个量表项目进行评分。
该问卷由 24 名非专业专家进行了审查，他们的平均年龄为 27.96 岁。他们代表不同的性别和性取向。最终问卷共包含 89 个项目。确定了三个关键领域来构建问卷，包括基于图像的性虐待、非图像 TFSVA 和在线发起的身体性暴力。量表的相关性、适当性和清晰度的总体量表 CVI 值分别为 0.90、0.96 和 0.97，这表明所有仪器项目都具有很高的内容效度。为了确保测量准确反映不同人口统计学群体的经验，还按性别和性取向进一步分析了内容效度。分析表明，不同性别和性取向的参与者在项目有效性方面存在差异。例如，异性恋男性对与裸体相关的项目的相关性 CVI 特别低，为 0.20，包括“男性的胸部/乳头可见”和“此人具有性暗示”。这突出了在开发 TFSVA 测量工具时采用包容性方法的重要性。
本研究通过检查我们新开发的测量的内容效度，极大地推进了 TFSVA 的评估。研究结果表明，我们的测量工具具有足够的内容效度，从而为在中国语境下评估 TFSVA 提供了坚实的基础。实施该工具预计将提高我们对 TFSVA 的理解，并有助于制定有效的干预措施来打击这种形式的虐待。
