SPARK - IPV

Helping researchers effectively measure IPV in maternal health research

Women Abuse Screening Tool (WAST)

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The Women Abuse Screening Tool (WAST) is an 8-item screening tool used to assess physical and emotional intimate partner violence

Purpose: Purpose: Screening/Identification
Number of Items: 8
Violence Mode: Emotional/Psychological, Physical, Sexual
Population: Women
Language: English, Spanish
Mode of Admin: Self-administered
Time Frame: Lifetime/Any/Ever

Additional Details

Country: Canada
Adaptations: N/A
Relationship Focus: Current romantic/dating partner
Setting: Clinical
Scoring Info: Recode responses to reflect a higher score for higher reported frequency of experiences and sum the WAST scores for individuals who answered all 8 items

Reference: Brown, J. B., Lent, B., Brett, P. J., Sas, G., & Pederson, L. L. (1996). Development of the Woman Abuse Screening Tool for use in family practice. Family Medicine, 28(6), 422–428.

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The 8-item version above is the current, updated (2000) version of the WAST. An earlier 7-item version of the WAST (1996) is also available: Download the original 7-item WAST (1996).

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