Sex and age differences in self-estimated physical, verbal and indirect aggression in Spanish adolescents

Abstract

This study examined the construct validity of the Direct & Indirect Aggression Scales (DIAS) (Finland: Abo Akademi University) [Bjo¨rkqvist et al., 1992c] in 653 adolescents aged 14 to 17 in four Spanish high schools. This paper also examined sex and age differences in aggression. The factor structure of scales was assessed using exploratory factor analysis. Varimax rotation was used, with a factorial structure of three factors: physical aggression, verbal aggression and indirect aggression. The results showed that, compared with girls, boys reported a more frequent use of physical and verbal aggression. However, for indirect aggression no differences were found between boys and girls. A specific examination of sex differences on individual items of the DIAS showed that boys used physical, verbal and indirect aggression more often than girls. The findings also indicated that, as expected, adolescents in lower courses (14-15 years old) rated higher in all types of violence than adolescents in higher courses (16-17 years old). Also, we found that boys used physical and verbal aggression more often than girls did in all age groups studied. This study provided a better understanding of female aggression in the Spanish context and it enhanced our understanding of how aggression is expressed by Spanish girls. Aggr. Behav. 31:13-23, 2005. r

Association of Family Structure and its Environment with Aggressive Behaviour of Children (6-8years) in a Rural Community

“…However, male children with joint family system were found healthy compared to 159 (57.2%) female with mild to moderate aggressive behaviour. This finding has been consistent in other studies [16][17][18]. The possible reason for this in a rural community could be due to less support for female children as social norms by the mothers / parents in joint family system.…”

Adolescents' Predictions of Aggressive Behavioral Patterns in Different Settings

“…According to the original Direct and Indirect Aggression Scale (DIAS), which allows the measurement of direct (physical and verbal) and indirect (social manipulation) strategies of aggression, in each scenario four specific items were used to measure physical aggression (hits the other, kicks the other, shoves the other, takes things from the other), four items were used to measure verbal aggression (yells at or argues with the other, insults the other, says he/she is going to hurt the other, teases the other) and four items were used to measure indirect aggression (plans secretly to cause trouble for the other, ignores the other, says bad things behind the other's back, criticizes the other's hair or clothing). Before using these items, the researcher had confirmed the validity and applicability of the DIAS in an earlier study [15] in which a Spanish version of the DIAS was used to measure aggressive behavior using self-estimations in the same sample of Spanish adolescents as used in the current study. In this sample the internal consistency of the three factors (physical, verbal, and indirect aggression), evaluated by the alpha coefficient, was .92 [15].…”

“…Before using these items, the researcher had confirmed the validity and applicability of the DIAS in an earlier study [15] in which a Spanish version of the DIAS was used to measure aggressive behavior using self-estimations in the same sample of Spanish adolescents as used in the current study. In this sample the internal consistency of the three factors (physical, verbal, and indirect aggression), evaluated by the alpha coefficient, was .92 [15].…”

“…Moreover, there is a significant amount of research looking at sex differences in different types of aggressive behavior [e.g., [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. However, differences in aggressiveness between men and women are often small and inconsistent [16][17][18].…”

I-DAQ: a New Test to Assess Direct and Indirect Aggression Free of Response Bias

“…Taking into account that the limitations of the existing questionnaires are not related to the content of I-DAQ: a New Test to Assess Aggression 3 their items, the questionnaire was developed from items drawn from different aggression questionnaires (Anguiano-Carrasco & Vigil-Colet, 2011;Buss & Durkee, 1957;Buss & Perry, 1992;Connelly, Newton, & Aarons, 2005;Infante & Wigley, 1986;Kaukiainen et al, 2001;Lawrence, 2006;Toldos, 2005). The items were translated using back-translation.…”