Cognitive Distortions Among Partner-Violent Men: Analyzing an Assessment Tool

Cognitive distortions are related to the development and maintenance of violent behavior. Among partner-violent men the denial of the problem, and victim blaming are especially prevalent, and reduce accountability. This paper reviews the psychometric properties of an inventory designed to assess distortions about women and violence justification. Its application in 180 offenders in prison is analyzed, as well as the results of 11 previous studies, comparing two correction options (true/false and Likert/factorial). Factor analysis allowed to remove items 7, 8, 19 and 28 due to their low statistical significance, and to group them in four factors. Item 27 was removed because is considered to be wrong. Some limitations were detected, as can be a low sensitivity to therapeutic change, and a low capacity to discriminate between different samples. Precautions to be taken when using the tool in the professional field are discussed.