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Cross-Cultural Reliability and Validity of the Multidimensional Neglectful Behavior Scale Adult Recall Short Form

NCJ Number
216915
Journal
Child Abuse & Neglect Volume: 30 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2006 Pages: 1257-1279
Author(s)
Murray A. Straus
Date Published
November 2006
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study tested the reliability and validity of the Adult Recall Short Form of the Multidimensional Neglectful Behavior Scale (MNBS-AS), which is designed to assess the neglectful behavior of parents toward their children as reported by adolescent children or recalled by adult children.
Abstract
The study found that a substantial percentage of students in 33 universities in 17 countries had experienced a pervasive pattern of neglectful behavior by their parents (emotional neglect, physical neglect, cognitive neglect, and/or supervisory neglect). These high rates of perceived parental neglect indicate that the MNBS-AS has sufficient sensitivity to be useful for research on parental neglect. The construct validity of the MNBS was indicated by results that showed the experience of neglectful parental behavior was related to an increased probability of violence against a dating partner as a young adult, regardless of whether there was also physical maltreatment by parents. This relationship was found at both the macrolevel and the individual-level. The fact that parental neglect was linked to causing victim injury in subsequent dating violence associated neglectful parenting to severe violent behavior. The findings suggest that the MNBS-AS could be useful in community epidemiologic research on neglect and as a clinical screening tool for the preliminary identification of neglectful parental behavior. The data were obtained through MNBS-AS questionnaires completed by a convenience sample of 7,179 students at 33 universities in 17 countries as part of the International Dating Violence Study. 4 tables, 4 figures, and 36 references