Validation of the Acceptability of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women (AIPVAW) Scale in Ecuadorian Population

Abstract

Ecuador is one of the Latin American countries with the highest prevalence of intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW), a social and public health issue with severe consequences for the well-being of women. Attitudes of acceptability towards IPVAW are a key factor to understand this problem and developing effective prevention and intervention initiatives. In this study, we present the validation of the Spanish acceptability of the IPVAW Scale (A-IPVAW) to the Ecuadorian sociocultural context in two samples of 992 and 346 participants. Results showed that this measure has a good internal consistency, that is invariant across gender, that their items present low loadings of social desirability, and that it is related to other theoretically relevant attitudinal constructs. These findings provide evidence that the A-IPVAW scale is an adequate measure to assess the acceptability of IPVAW in Ecuador.