forced you to have sexual relations?). The frequency, but not the severity, of each item was assessed via six response options: 1) never, 2) once, 3) twice, 4) three to five times, 5) six to ten times, 6) more than 10 times. These items are not expected to under-estimate maltreatment as much as questions that exclusively rely on respondents to define maltreatment (e.g. ‘Were you sexually maltreated?’). Nonetheless, there are several weaknesses in these items. They may underestimate maltreatment, like all maltreatment items that require participants to define sensitive terms themselves (Carlin, Kemper, Ward, Sowell, Gustafson, & Stevens, 1994; Carlson, 1997; Silvern, Waelde, McClintic, & Kaersvang, 2000). The neglect items require respondents to define when they are able to be left alone, and what constitutes a basic need. The physical maltreatment item may capture corporal punishment and does not query certain severely violent acts that are often included in physical abuse self-reports, such as being beaten repeatedly, choked, assaulted with a weapon, etc. As a result, this item may capture more mild physical maltreatment and corporal punishment. Sexual maltreatment may be underreported because the item includes the word ‘sexual’, and a child may experience an act as either violent or
