Cyber Dating Violence Instrument for Teens (CyDAV-T): Dimensional Structure and Relative Item Discrimination

Background: Validated measures of cyber dating violence are scarce and have barely explored the sexual dimension. The present study advanced this line of research by developing a new instrument that differentiates between sexual, verbal and control dimensions. Method: The instrument was created in four phases: literature review, focus groups with young people, expert review, and creation of the final scale. This instrument was administered to 600 students from high schools in Seville and Córdoba, aged between 14 and 18 ( M = 15.54; SD = 1.22). Results: A three-factor latent structure was confirmed for the aggression and victimization scales: verbal/emotional, control, and sexual. Using Item Response Theory, a refined version of the scales resulted in 19 items for both aggression and victimisation. Prevalence analysis showed that verbal/emotional forms were the most frequent, followed by control and sexual. Conclusions: The CyDAV-T instrument can be considered a valid instrument for assessing cyber dating violence in the adolescent population.