Family is the first and most important educational agent of all human beings because it comprises the social space where the initial personal construction and social adjustment processes are developed (Priegue, 2008). However, in recent decades the European society in general, and the Spanish society in particular, have undergone important changes in the dynamics of coexistence and interaction, requiring an intense process of adaptation, not always easy, within families (see Lorenzo, Rego, Godás and Priegue, 2009). Therefore, it does not come as a surprise atthe importance given to the development of initiatives aimed at preventing and managing conflicts in family relationships. This is especially true when facing the possibility that certain dynamics violates children’s rights, such as in child abuse cases (see UNICEF, 2009).

Even though child abuse has been the subject of study for over five decades (see Kempe, Silverman, Steele, Droegemueller & Silver, 1962), some issues have yet to reach consensus among the scientific community. One of these issues has to do with the analysis of its causes, a topic where perspectives werefocused on variables whose explanatory partiality was obvious in the ecological model of child abuse; Belsky’s approach of this model (1980) stands out, as it is based on the ecological model of human development proposed by Bronfenbenner (1979). For the Londoner specialist, child abuse is a multiple cause problem generated by an interaction process of the different ecological levels (individual, family and environmental), focusing not only on the sum of each of these factors, but also on the multiplier effect they may exercise together.

The research studies conducted in recent years on child abuse (see Ceballos, Correa Rodríguez and Rodríguez, 2007) have emphasized the impact of abuse on the victim, demanding further practical attention in order to repair, or at least slow down, the damage suffered by the child. However, we have not made enough progress in other aspectswhich are closely related, and highly relevant, to this problem.

This is the case with regard to the training of education professionals, considering their privileged position in the early detection of child abuse and in identifying possible cases of risk. However, sometimes teachers, and educators in general, allege theirlack of knowledge and training to perform these tasks (Gobierno de Cantabria, 2011). In this regard, the scientific literature gathers different results and conclusions. On the one hand, there are research studies which argue that teachers lack training on child abuse or training is insufficient. Reiniger, Robison & McHugh (1995) support this idea, stating that the professionals of the education sector are less informed than health care professionals. On the other hand, there are studies which consider that the difficulties in detecting and addressing situations of child abuse in the school context are not so much due to a lack of teacher training as to its lack of security when acting (Yanowitz , Monte & Tribble, 2003; Salvador Pons & Cerezo, 2004).

Thus, this paper is focused on the process of construction and validation of an instrument designed to analyze whether future education professionals are receiving training or not on issues related to child abuse.

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