JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Technology-facilitated sexual violence and abuse (TFSVA) encompasses a range of behaviors where digital technologies are used to enable both virtual and in-person sexual violence. Given that TFSVA is an emerging and continually evolving form of sexual abuse, it has been challenging to establish a universally accepted definition or to develop standardized measures for its assessment.

Objective:

This study aimed to address the significant gap in research on TFSVA within the Chinese context. Specifically, it sought to develop a TFSVA measurement tool with robust content validity, tailored for use in subsequent epidemiological studies within the Chinese contexts.

Methods:

The first step in developing the measurement for TFSVA victimization and perpetration was to conduct a thorough literature review of existing empirical research on TFSVA and relevant measurement tools. After the initial generation of items, all the items were reviewed by an expert panel to assess the face validity. The measurement items were further reviewed by potential research participants, who was recruited through snowball sampling through online platforms. The assessment results were quantified by computing the content validity index (CVI). The participants were asked to rate each scale item in terms of its relevance, appropriateness, and clarity to the topic.

Results:

The questionnaire was reviewed by 24 lay experts, with the mean age of 27.96 and encompassed of different gender and sexual orientation. The final questionnaire contained a total of 89 items. Three key domains were identified to construct the questionnaire, which included image-based sexual abuse, non-image-based TFSVA, and online-initiated physical sexual violence. The overall S-CVI of relevance, appropriateness, and clarity for the scale were 0.90, 0.96, and 0.97 respectively, which indicated high content validity of all the instrument items. To ensure the measurement accurately reflects the experiences of diverse demographic groups, the content validity was further analyzed by gender and sexual orientation. This analysis revealed variations in item validity among participants from different genders and sexual orientations. For instance, heterosexual males showed particularly low CVI of relevance of 0.20 in the items related to nudity, which was “male’s chest/ nipples were visible” and “the person was sexually suggestive”. This underscored the importance of an inclusive approach when developing a measurement for TFSVA.

Conclusions:

This study significantly advances the assessment of TFSVA by examining the content validity of our newly developed measurement. The findings revealed that our measurement tool demonstrated adequate content validity, thereby providing a strong foundation for assessing TFSVA within the Chinese context. Implementing this tool is anticipated to enhance our understanding of TFSVA and aid in the development of effective interventions to combat this form of abuse.