Aggression among adolescents: psychometric evaluation of a tool

Abstract

Adolescence, a crucial period preceded by childhood and followed by adulthood, involves significant growth and developmental changes leading to various psychological challenges and aggressive tendencies. Several scales have been developed to measure aggression, but 12-item short form aggression questionnaire has been widely used for assessing aggression and it is manifestations for varied age groups. However, there has been a dearth of studies related to the tool on assessing aggression in adolescents, further the cultural variations among various research populations compelled researcher to re-evaluate the tool on school-going adolescents. The current study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of 12-item short form aggression questionnaire on 400 school adolescents (14-18 years). The hypothetical model was evaluated by structural equation modelling. The identified 4-factor model structure, viz. physical aggression (PA), verbal aggression (VA), hostility (H), and anger (A); depicted excellent goodness of-fit; and established the questionnaire with 12-items as a reliable and valid measure for assessing aggression among adolescents. The scale can serve as a valuable resource for researchers, teachers, and psychologists to evaluate overall aggression and its specific forms in adolescents. While predictive validity of questionnaire with 12-items should be explored, and norms development as per given cultural context is recommended.