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. 2024 Dec;25(5):3777-3795.
doi: 10.1177/15248380241262275. Epub 2024 Jul 23.

Psychometric properties of the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment from samples of people having perpetrated intimate partner violence

Victoria Allard  1 , Tamsin Higgs  1   2   3 , Maéva Slight  1
Affiliations

Psychometric properties of the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment from samples of people having perpetrated intimate partner violence

Victoria Allard et al. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2024 Dec.

Abstract

Since it was first published in 1995, the Spousal Assault Risk Assessment (SARA) Guide has become one of the most used and researched intimate partner violence (IPV) risk measures worldwide. Yet, no recent review has formally and systematically established the psychometric properties of this measure. Furthermore, the third version of the SARA (SARA-V3) was published in 2015, with no psychometric critique to date. This review aimed to provide an inclusive and exhaustive literature review of all psychometric properties (i.e., predictive validity, convergent validity, internal consistency, and inter-rater) of the SARA, including V3. A systematic search of 17 databases was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Academic journals, book chapters, and gray literature were included but conference presentations were not. To be included studies had to report a psychometric property of any version of the SARA and be composed of individuals having committed IPV. The search identified 28 records published between 1997 and 2022. Results showed that although the literature on the SARA is mostly positive, it is much more varied in terms of both results and research quality than its widespread implementation might suggest. Most studies were conducted using case files in a research context with non-diverse samples, undermining ecological validity. Results for convergent and predictive validity were mostly positive. However, reliability statistics were under-researched and showed poorer results. Lastly, little research has gone into validating the SARA-V3, with what is available suggesting poorer reliability and validity than its predecessor. Practitioners are cautioned against transitioning to the newer version before further validation research has occurred.

Keywords: assessment; domestic violence; predicting domestic violence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flow diagram summarizing the systematic record screening process. Note. Flow diagram adapted from Page et al. (2021). k refers to the number of studies or records.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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