Assessment of In-Person and Cyber Aggression and Victimization, Substance Use, and Delinquent Behavior During Early Adolescence

Abstract

This study evaluated the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale-Adolescent Report (PBFS-AR), a measure designed to assess adolescents' frequency of victimization, aggression, substance use, and delinquent behavior. Participants were 1,263 students (50% female; 78% African American, 18% Latino) from three urban middle schools in the United States. Confirmatory factor analyses of competing models of the structure of the PBFS-AR supported a model that differentiated among three forms of aggression (in-person physical, in-person relational, and cyber), two forms of victimization (in-person and cyber), substance use, and delinquent behavior. This seven-factor model fit the data well and demonstrated strong measurement invariance across groups that differed on sex and grade. Support was found for concurrent validity of the PBFS-AR based on its pattern of relations with school office discipline referrals.

Patterns of Parental Messages Supporting Fighting and Nonviolence Among Urban Middle School Students

“…Previous studies have found support for the structure of the PBFS‐AR, measurement invariance across gender, grade, and settings, and concurrent validity with self‐report and teacher report on related measures of beliefs, peer associations, and problem behaviors (Farrell, Sullivan, Goncy, & Le, 2016; Farrell, Thompson, et al, 2018). We followed the recommended system for scoring the measure (Farrell, Thompson, et al, 2018), which involved taking the mean across items after combining the three highest categories on the 6‐point scale, and log transforming the resulting scores to reduce their skewness and kurtosis. Alpha coefficients for physical aggression and victimization were .84 and .91, respectively.…”

“…The Problem Behavior Frequency Scale—Adolescent Report Version 2 (PBFS‐AR; Farrell, Thompson, Mehari, Sullivan, & Goncy, 2018) measures adolescents’ frequency of aggression, victimization, and other problem behaviors. The current study focused on the 5‐item physical aggression scale and the 15‐item in‐person victimization scale.…”

Deviant Peer Factors During Early Adolescence: Cause or Consequence of Physical Aggression?

“…This study used the Physical Aggression subscale, which consisted of five items (e.g., “Hit or slapped someone” and “Thrown something at someone to hurt them”). The total score was based on the mean after combining responses in the three highest categories based on prior IRT analyses (Farrell, Thompson, Mehari, Sullivan, & Goncy, ) and calculating the mean across items. Alpha coefficients ranged from .76 to .82 across waves.…”

Longitudinal relations between trauma‐related psychological distress and physical aggression among urban early adolescents

“…Farrell et al () found support for strong measurement invariance across gender, location, and time, as well as support for construct validity of the PBFS‐AR using measures of related constructs based on teacher‐ and student‐report. We calculated the total score by combining the three highest categories based on prior analyses using item response theory (Farrell, Thompson et al, ), and calculating the mean across items. α Coefficients ranged from 0.76 to 0.82 across waves.…”

“…The frequency of engaging in physical aggression was assessed by the Problem Behavior Frequency Scale-Adolescent Report (PBFS-AR; Farrell, Sullivan, Goncy, & Le, 2016;Farrell, Thompson, Mehari, Sullivan, & Goncy, 2018). Physical aggression toward others was measured using five items (e.g., "hit or slapped someone" and "threatened someone with a weapon [gun, knife, club, etc.]").…”