Adaptation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Children’s Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire (CKAQ-RIII) in Greek Elementary School Children

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to culturally adapt and validate the Children’s Knowledge of Abuse Questionnaire-RIII (CKAQ-RIII), a tool that examines children’s understanding of sexual abuse concepts, for use in Greek elementary schools. A sample of 467 Greek school children between the ages of 6–9 was recruited from a private school. The CKAQ-RIII was administrated three times, before and immediately after a Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) prevention intervention program, as well as during a one-year follow-up evaluation. A subsample of the original population (N = 113) completed the one year follow up administration of CKAQ-RIII, along with the Body Awareness (BA) and the Emotional Differentiation (ED) subscales of the Emotion Awareness Questionnaire (EAQ). Internal consistency was high for the inappropriate touch scale (ITS) of the CKAQ-RIII and moderate for the appropriate touch subscale (ATS). Inter-item analysis showed that the majority of items were in an acceptable range. Pearson correlation coefficients analyses revealed strong associations between the two subscales of ITS and ATS, and the overall scores of the questionnaire. A mixed-subjects analysis of variance on the ITS showed an increase in knowledge post intervention, with third graders (8–9 year olds) generally scoring higher at baseline and demonstrating greater knowledge gains post intervention. A mixed-subjects analysis of variance was also conducted for the ATS where no significant increase in knowledge was found. Furthermore, analysis revealed a good concurrent criterion validity with good levels of agreement between CKAQ-RIII and ED, whereas no relationship was established between CKAQ-RIII and BA.

KEYWORDS:

• Child sexual abuse
• Children’s Knowledge of Abuse RIII
• Greece
• cross-cultural validation
• psychometrics
• emotion awareness questionnaire

Acknowledgments

This work was funded by Stavros Niarchos Foundation and conducted under the auspices of the ELIZA – Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

Special thanks to the ACG Psychology Department team of volunteers that helped in the collection of data. Moreover, we are very grateful to the children, parents and teachers for their participation and the insight they have provided. Finally, we would also like to thank Dr. Anastasia Houndoumadi for her valuable comments on a previous version of this manuscript.

The authors wish to declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Christina Jane Gangos

Christina Jane Gangos, M.S. is a Mental Health Counselor at the Counselling Center of The American College of Greece-Deree, Athens, Greece.

Chrysanthi Nega

Chrysanthi Nega, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the American College of Greece-Deree, Athens, Greece.

Fotini-Sonia Apergi

Fotini-Sonia Apergi, Psy.D. is a Clinical Psychologist and Assistant Professor of Psychology at the American College of Greece-Deree, Athens, Greece.