title: Trauma-Exposed Community-Dwelling Women and Men Respond Similarly to the DAR-5 Anger Scale: Factor Structure Invariance and Differential Item Functioning.
abstract: Anger is associated with the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and with poor treatment outcomes. The Dimensions of Anger Reactions Scale-5 (DAR-5) has demonstrated preliminary evidence of unitary factor structure and sound psychometric properties. Gender-based differences in psychometric properties have not been explored. The current study examined gender-based factor structure invariance and differential item functioning of the DAR-5 and gender differences in PTSD symptoms as a function of anger severity using a community sample of adults who had been exposed to trauma. Data were collected from 512 trauma-exposed community-dwelling adults (47.9% women). Confirmatory factor analyses, Mantel-Haenszel χ(2) tests and a comparison of characteristic curves, and 2-way analyses of variance, respectively, were used to assess gender-based factor structure invariance, gender-based response patterns to DAR-5 items, and gender differences in PTSD symptoms as a function of anger. The unitary DAR-5 factor structure did not differ between men and women. Significant gender differences in the response pattern to the DAR-5 items were not present. Trauma-exposed individuals with high anger reported greater overall PTSD symptoms (p < .001), regardless of gender. The DAR-5 can be used to assess anger in trauma-exposed individuals without concern of gender biases influencing factor structure or item functioning. Findings further suggested that the established relationship between anger and PTSD severity did not differ by gender.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Gordon J G
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Asmundson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: LeBouthillier
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Holly A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Parkerson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Samantha C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Horswill
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000786:Anger; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*