Childhood abuse experience scale: Examining its factor structure using item confirmatory & exploratory factor analyses among a sample of Saudi adolescents

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the factorial structure of the Child Abuse Experiences Scale using exploratory factor analysis. It also aimed to examine the number of underlying factors. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted for this purpose. The study sample consisted of (n = 400, mean age 14.7 years, standard deviation = 1.9, 37.5% females and 62.5% males), third and middle-grade secondary school adolescents residing in the capital city of Riyadh. The current study used the Child Abuse Experiences Scale developed by Helmy and Hamid Al-Din (2023) and applied it to the Saudi setting. Assessment of the study results showed control of the scale's psychometric properties, indicating acceptable levels of validity and reliability. The exploratory factorial results using the principal components with orthogonal axes of rotation revealed the presence of three factors for the scale: Experiences of Physical Abuse, Experiences of Psychological Abuse, and Neglect. Physical abuse emerged as a main factor saturated with most items of the scale. In addition, physical abuse is an indicator of mental disorders in the community of the current study group. Therefore, it is important to consider physical abuse when designing counseling and psychological treatment programs for adolescents suffering from mental health and social problems.