The factor structure of the aggression questionnaire with violent offenders

The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) is a self-report measure of aggressiveness commonly employed in nonforensic and forensic settings and is included in violent offender pre- and posttreatment assessment batteries. The aim of the current study was to assess the fit of the four-factor model...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Pettersen, Cathrine. (Author) ; Nunes, Kevin L. (Author) ; Cortoni, Franca (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
In: International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
Year: 2018, Volume: 62, Issue: 7, Pages: 1888-1905
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Keywords:
Aggression questionnaire
Confirmatory factor analysis
Violent offenders
Aggression
Agressivität
Fragebogen
Gewaltätige Straftäter
Description
Summary:The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) is a self-report measure of aggressiveness commonly employed in nonforensic and forensic settings and is included in violent offender pre- and posttreatment assessment batteries. The aim of the current study was to assess the fit of the four-factor model of the AQ with violent offenders (N = 271), a population for which the factor structure of the English version of the AQ has not previously been examined. Confirmatory factor analyses did not yield support for the four-factor model of the original 29-item AQ. Acceptable fit was obtained with the 12-item short form, but careful examination of the relationships between the latent factors revealed that the four subscales of the AQ may not represent distinct aspects of aggressiveness. Our findings call into question whether the AQ optimally measures trait aggressiveness among violent offenders.
ISSN:1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X17691242