Key components of the questionnaire development process consisted of questionnaire design, Delphi process involving expert review of the tools by more than 100 professionals from different countries, field testing of the questionnaires in 8 countries, data analysis and final refinement of questionnaire and research guides.

Most child abuse research has been conducted in affluent, western countries. One significant barrier to research worldwide has been a lack of suitable tools to use in local surveys with children and young people. It is hoped that these tools that ISPCAN has developed will remove this barrier. It is also envisioned that the availability of a common tool will enable systematic comparison of data across cultures, time or between research groups even when such groups operate within the same country or use the same language.

The tools are developed for gathering information in three areas:

• parent interview that will ask about the child’s exposure to violence in the home;
• young adult version for adults who have recently become independent;
• a complementary child instrument for children over 11 years of age;

ISPCAN's goal for this project was to provide a method to make reported incidence of all forms of violence against children more accurate and more representative of the true scope of the problem. Research instruments that measure child maltreatment are significant tools in preventing child abuse and neglect globally. It is anticipated the use of these tools will result in policies and programs that promote child protection and in curricula adaptation for general and continuing professional education.

The tools in PDF format are available below. One may receive a copy of any tool in MS WORD format by completing a simple request form below. Professionals may use these tools with the understanding that they agree to:

1. use the tools in a culturally appropriate way that is also sensitive to the needs of children.
2. submit the questionnaire for ethical review by a professionally approved entity in the country/countries where the survey is conducted
3. share with ISPCAN a summary report of findings

The parent and young adult questionnaires were field tested in Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, India, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia and Russia. The children’s questionnaire was field tested in Colombia, India and Russia and in Iceland to be completed in October 2006.

The questionnaires were translated into multiple languages and incorporate refinements based on feedback from translators and back-translators. At present, the instrument has been translated in Arabic, French, Hindi, Malay, Marathi, Russian and Spanish. At a later stage the instruments will be made available in local languages.

A preliminary report on the instrument is published in Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal.
ISPCAN is very grateful to the immensely valuable and dedicated contributions several individuals have made, including those listed below. This project was led by Dr. Desmond Runyan of the University of North Carolina in the USA as the Special Representative to the NGO Subgroup on the UN Study on Violence Against Children, with the assistance of Dr. Adam Zolotor from the University of North Carolina. The project was coordinated by Dr. Michael Dunne of Queensland University of Technology in Australia.

Mr. Gopalan Balagopal, Senior Adviser, Child Protection, UNICEF and staff provided continued support from the time the UNICEF grant for the project was initiated. Clemencia Ramirez of Colombia, Dipty Jain of India, Randa Youssef of Egypt, Marcel Tshibangu of DR Congo, Helga Rúna Péturs of Iceland, Nurgul Mamyrova and Inna Andreeva of Kyrgyzstan, Bernard Gerbaka of Lebanon, Sham Kasim of Malaysia and Elena Volkova of Russia and coordinated the field test in each of these countries. Kimberly Svevo and George Palamattam provided ISPCAN support for the project.