Psychometric properties of the aggression questionnaire in Dutch violent forensic psychiatric patients and secondary vocational students.
The psychometric properties of a Dutch version of Buss and Perry's Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) were examined in a sample of violent forensic psychiatric inpatients and outpatients and a sample of secondary vocational students. The internal consistency, interitem correlations, and item-scale correlations of the subscales Physical Aggression, Anger, and Hostility were good but turned out to be unsatisfactory for the subscale Verbal Aggression. The four-factor structure of the AQ could not be confirmed, but the four-factor structure of a 12-item version (short form) of the AQ, the AQ-SF, produced an acceptable fit. The test-retest reliability of the AQ and AQ-SF total scores was good, although the test-retest reliability of the AQ-SF subscale Physical Aggression was not satisfactory. The validity of both the AQ and AQ-SF could be demonstrated by meaningful correlations with alternative measures of aggression and personality, but inpatients were not found to display higher scores on the AQ or AQ-SF than the students.
Forensic Psychiatric Center De Kijvelanden, Poortugaal, Netherlands. Ruud.Hornsveld@Kijvelanden.nl
Ruud H J
RH
Hornsveld
Peter
P
Muris
Floris W
FW
Kraaimaat
Cor
C
Meesters
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D010045:Outpatients; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014829:Vocational Education