Abstract
This paper details a systematic literature review identifying problems in extant research relating to teachers' attitudes toward reporting child sexual abuse and offers a model for new attitude scale development and testing. Scale development comprised a five-phase process grounded in contemporary attitude theories, including (a) developing the initial item pool, (b) conducting a panel review, (c) refining the scale via an expert focus group, (d) building content validity through cognitive interviews, and (e) assessing internal consistency via field testing. The resulting 21-item scale displayed construct validity in preliminary testing. The scale may prove useful as a research tool, given the theoretical supposition that attitudes may be changed with time, context, experience, and education. Further investigation with a larger sample is warranted.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported under the Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (Project Number DP664847). Research assistance was provided to this project by Sam Kilby, Jane Cronan, and Lisa Chirio, from the Faculty of Law, QUT. The research team gratefully acknowledges the contribution of study participants and the pilot school staff.