The Index of Spousal Abuse (ISA) is a 30-item self-report scale developed to measure the severity of physical and non-physical aggression inflicted on a woman by her

spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific rights and obligations associated with that status, vary signific ...

or partner. The ISA has become a popular measure in medical settings. It was created from the conflict tactics scale, one of the earliest instruments used to identify violence between partners by measuring interpersonal aggression, in which 19 items pertain to non-physical abuse and 11 pertain to

physical abuse Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or ...

. Each item is rated on a scale from 1 (never) to 5 (very frequently). Both of these scales are part of assessing the

cycle of abuse The cycle of abuse is a social cycle theory developed in 1979 by Lenore E. Walker to explain patterns of behavior in an abusive relationship. The phrase is also used more generally to describe any set of conditions which perpetuate abusive and D ...

References

External links

Domestic violence: Screening made practical
Intimate partner violence {{crime-stub