Trauma-Exposed Community-Dwelling Women and Men Respond Similarly to the DAR-5 Anger Scale: Factor Structure Invariance and Differential Item Functioning

• Published in: Journal of traumatic stress 2016-06, Vol.29 (3), p.214-220
• Main Authors: Asmundson, Gordon J. G., LeBouthillier, Daniel M., Parkerson, Holly A., Horswill, Samantha C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Anger; Female; Gender differences; Humans; Life Change Events; Male; Middle Aged; Post traumatic stress disorder; Psychometrics; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Sex Factors; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Women
• ISSN: 0894-9867; 1573-6598
• DOI: 10.1002/jts.22098

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 χ2 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. Resumen Spanish s by the Asociación Chilena de Estrés Traumático (ACET) Factor de Invarianza y DIF (Funcionamiento Diferencial de Items) DAR‐5 en mujeres y hombres La ira está asociada con el desarrollo del trastorno por estrés postraumático (TEPT) y respuestas bajas al tratamiento. Las dimensiones de la Escala de Reacciones de Ira (DAR‐5, por sus cifras en inglés) han demostrado evidencias preliminares de un factor estructural unitario y propiedades psicométricas sólidas. Las diferencias basadas en el género en las propiedades psicométricas no han sido exploradas. El presente estudio examinó la diferencia de género en el factor de invarianza estructural y el funcionamiento diferencial de los ítems de la DAR‐5 y las diferencias de género en los síntomas de TEPT como una función de la severidad de la ira en una muestra de la comunidad de adultos expuestos a trauma. Los datos fueron recogidos de 512 adultos en una residencia comunitaria ex