Escala de Impacto del Matrato Infatil (EIMI, CMIS)

Abstract

The Escala de Impacto del Matrato Infatil (EIMI), also known as the Child Maltreatment Impact Scale (CMIS), was developed by Colombo, Salcedo, and Alonso in 2023. This instrument is designed to measure the extent of the emotional impact experienced by health professionals and justice administrators when they listen to interviews with children or adolescents who have undergone traumatic events related to chronic intrafamily abuse. The development process began with a literature review that generated an initial pool of 44 items. Data for the validation study were gathered from mental health and justice professionals who work with children in vulnerable situations across three Latin American countries: Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. Following an exploratory factorial analysis, the scale was refined to 38 items. These items evaluate five distinct impact factors: Negative emotions, Inaction caused by fear, Disbelief, Empathy, and Bewilderment. The study also provided results confirming the internal consistency of the scale.

Keywords

Child Abuse, Child Maltreatment, Disbelief, Emotional Impact, Empathy, Factorial Validity, Fear, Inaction Caused by Fear, Mental Health and Justice Professionals, Mental Health Care Personnel Measures, Mental Health Personnel, Negative Emotions, Trauma Measures

Authors

Colombo, Rosa Inés; Salcedo, Pablo Andrés; Alonso, Gisela Mariana

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Escala de Impacto del Matrato Infatil (EIMI) is to provide a formal assessment of the emotional impact that affects health professionals and justice administrators as a consequence of hearing the narrative of a child or adolescent victim of chronic abuse.

Construct

This instrument is designed to measure the following constructs: Child Maltreatment Impact, Emotional Impact, and Child Abuse.

Validity

The measure demonstrates factorial validity. The outcomes of the factor analysis conducted during its development lend support to the structural validity of the scale.

Reliability

The scale shows strong internal consistency. Across the five identified factors, the calculated Cronbach’s alpha and Omega values were reported to range from .76 to .92.

Factor Analysis

An exploratory factor analysis was performed on the initial item pool. This analysis revealed that six of the original items either exhibited low factor loadings or failed to load onto any specific factor, leading to their elimination. The final iteration of the scale consists of a 38-item, 5-factor structure. This structure was found to explain 24.388% of the total common variance observed in the data.

Instrument

• Test Type: This is an Original Inventory/Questionnaire.

• Format: The instrument utilizes a Likert-type scale for its 38 items. Respondents rate each item using one of four options: “never,” “sometimes,” “almost always,” or “always.” The administration is conducted electronically.

• Language Available: The test is available in Spanish.

• Population Group: The instrument is intended for the human population, including both males and females.

• Age Group: It is designed for use with adults across various age ranges, including Adulthood (18 years and older), Young Adulthood (18-29 years), Thirties (30-39 years), Middle Age (40-64 years), and Aged (65 years and older).

• Population Details: The development and validation sample consisted of Mental Health and Justice Professionals located in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.

• Test Methodology: The development involved assessments of Test Validity and Test Reliability, specifically utilizing methods of Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, and Exploratory Factor Analysis.

Keywords

Bewilderment, Child Abuse, Child Maltreatment, Disbelief, Emotional Impact, Empathy, Factorial Validity, Fear, Inaction Caused by Fear, Mental Health and Justice Professionals, Mental Health Personnel, Negative Emotions, Trauma Measures

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Authors including Author orcid Identifier and Affiliation Email addresses Correspondence Address

• Colombo, Rosa Inés

  • Author orcid Identifier: No data is Available

  • Affiliation: Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)

  • Email addresses: No data is Available

  • Correspondence Address: No data is Available

• Salcedo, Pablo Andrés

  • Author orcid Identifier: No data is Available

  • Affiliation: Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)

  • Email addresses: No data is Available

  • Correspondence Address: No data is Available

• Alonso, Gisela Mariana

  • Author orcid Identifier: No data is Available

  • Affiliation: Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)

  • Email addresses: [email protected]

  • Correspondence Address: Cabrera 3962 piso 8 dpto. AT1, Ciudad de Buenos aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina, C1186AAX

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Permissions: To use the scale, interested parties should contact the corresponding author, Gisela Mariana Alonso.

• Fee: There is no fee to use this instrument.

• Commercial: This is not a commercial instrument.

• Test Year: 2023

Reference’s

Colombo, R. I., Salcedo, P. A., & Alonso, G. M. (2023). Construcción y validación de la Escala de impacto del maltrato infantil (EIMI) [Construction and validation of the Child Maltreatment Impact Scale (CMIS)]. Acta Psiquiátrica y Psicológica de América Latina, 69(1), 15–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/17479541231188192

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Items of the Escala de Impacto del Matrato Infatil (EIMI) / Child Maltreatment Impact Scale (CMIS)

The full list of the 38 items for this scale is not available in this record. However, the items are published and can be found in the original source article, specifically on pages 21-22 of the referenced publication.