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Instrument Title

MPAB: Measure of Psychologically Abusive Behaviors

View PDF - MPAB_Follingstad.pdf

Source Article

Follingstad, D. R., Coker, A. L., Lee, E., Williams, C. M., Bush, H. M., & Mendiondo, M. M. (2015). Validity and psychometric properties of the measure of psychologically abusive behaviors among young women and women in distressed relationships. Violence against women, 21(7), 875-896.

Response Options

Likert scale ranging from 0 = never, to 3 = almost daily

Survey Items

The MPAB consists of 41 items, encompassing 14 categories of psychological abuse.

  • 1a: Harmed or destroyed your personal things of value (e.g., pictures, keepsakes, clothes, etc.) as a way to intimidate you
  • 1b: Threatened to harm others (e.g., your family, your children, your close friends) around you to intimidate you
  • 1c: Harmed pets as a way to intimidate you
  • 2a: Thrown a temper tantrum (e.g., breaking objects, acting in a rage) as a way to frighten you
  • 2b: Verbally threatened to physically harm you or made a gesture that seemed physically threatening as a way to frighten you
  • 2c: Threatened to kill you as a way to frighten you
  • 3a: Acted rude toward, gossiped about, or told lies about your family and friends to discourage you from spending time with them
  • 3b: Tried to keep you from socializing with family or friends without him or her being present to isolate you
  • 3c: Tried to forbid you from socializing with family or friends to isolate you
  • 4a: Continued to act very upset (e.g., pouted, stayed angry, gave you the silent treatment) until you did what he or she wanted you to do
  • 4b: Threatened to end the relationship as a way to get you to do what he or she wanted
  • 4c: Threatened to commit suicide as a way to get you to do what he or she wanted
  • 5a: Threatened to reveal an embarrassing secret as a way to hurt or manipulate you
  • 5b: Revealed important secrets to others that you had told him or her as a way to embarrass you
  • 5c: Insulted or ridiculed you in front of others to humiliate you
  • 6a: Criticized and belittled you as a way to make you feel bad about yourself
  • 6b: Yelled and screamed as a way to intimidate you
  • 6c: Called you a derogatory name as a way to make you feel bad about yourself
  • 7a: Criticized your physical looks or sexual performance as a way to humiliate you
  • 7b: Refused to have sex with you as a way of making you feel insecure or inadequate
  • 7c: Insisted you have sex with him or her in belittling or humiliating ways
  • 8a: Tried to make you think he or she was more competent and intelligent than you as a way of making you feel inferior
  • 8b: Treated you as useless or stupid as a way to make you feel inferior
  • 8c: Demanded obedience to orders that he gave as a way of establishing his authority over you
  • 9a: Intentionally started an argument or disagreed with you on purpose to create conflict in your relationship
  • 9b: Treated an argument as though he or she had to “drive you into the ground” and made you feel bad when making their points
  • 9c: Treated you with strong hatred/contempt
  • 10a: Tried to make you report on the details of where you went and what you did when you were not with him or her as a way to check on you
  • 10b: Listened in on phone conversations, read your email, or went through your belongings without your permission as a way to check on you
  • 10c: Followed or had you followed by someone else as a way of checking up on your activities
  • 11a: Pointed out others as attractive as a way of making you feel uncomfortable
  • 11b: Flirted with others in front of you as a way to make you jealous
  • 11c: Implied he or she was having an affair as a way to make you feel insecure and worried
  • 12a: Acted very upset because he felt jealous if you spoke to or looked at any person
  • 12b: Accused you of having an affair as a way to restrict your behavior or control you
  • 12c: Tried to prevent you from speaking to or looking at any person who could be a potential romantic partner for you
  • 13a: Ignored important holidays and events as a way to punish or hurt you
  • 13b: Refused to speak to you as a way to punish or hurt you
  • 13c: Withheld affection as a way to punish or hurt you
  • 14b: Tried to make personal choices that should have been left up to you (e.g., which clothes to wear) to control you
  • 14c: Tried to make major decisions that affected you without consulting with you to control you

Internal Reliability

Cronbach's alpha = 0.97

Validity

Predictive validity, Criterion-related validity

Google Scholar

View article on Google Scholar

Terms Of Use

Individuals may use this information for research or educational purposes only and may not use this information for commercial purposes. When using this instrument, please cite:

Follingstad, D. R., Coker, A. L., Lee, E., Williams, C. M., Bush, H. M., & Mendiondo, M. M. (2015). Validity and psychometric properties of the measure of psychologically abusive behaviors among young women and women in distressed relationships. Violence against women, 21(7), 875-896.

When presenting results using any survey information you obtained from the SABI, please acknowledge the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Center for AIDS Research (CFAR), an NIH funded program P30 AI50410.