A Cross-Cultural Study of the Psychometric Properties of the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire Among Italian Nonclinical Adolescents

• Published in: Psychological assessment 2009-03, Vol.21 (1), p.131-135
• Main Authors: Fossati, Andrea, Raine, Adrian, Borroni, Serena, Bizzozero, Alice, Volpi, Elisa, Santalucia, Iolanda, Maffei, Cesare
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior - psychology; Adolescent Development; Adolescents; Aggression; Aggression - psychology; Aggressive Behavior; Aggressiveness; Biological and medical sciences; Bullying; Correlation; Correlation analysis; Cross Cultural Studies; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Cultural Context; Dominance-Subordination; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Factor Structure; Female; Human; Humans; Hypothesis Testing; Italy - epidemiology; Male; Measures (Individuals); Medical sciences; Personality; Personality Development; Personality Disorders - diagnosis; Personality Inventory - standards; Personality Inventory - statistics & numerical data; Personality traits; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychometrics; Psychometrics. Diagnostic aid systems; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Quantitative psychology; Questionnaires; Reliability; Reproducibility of Results; Self Disclosure; Surveys and Questionnaires - standards; Techniques and methods; Teenagers; Test Reliability; Test Validity
• ISSN: 1040-3590; 1939-134X
• DOI: 10.1037/a0014743

Five independent studies were used to test the hypothesis that a reliable 2-factor structure underlies the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) items and that the 2 scales show distinct patterns of association with personality and bullying behavior measures. Study 1 ( N = 1,447) gave evidence of a clear 2-factor structure of RPQ items with factor loading matrices closely matching reactive (congruence coefficient = .90) and proactive (congruence coefficient = .91) models of item assignment. The RPQ 2-factor structure was consistently replicated in Study 2 ( N = 662), as well as across the remaining 3 studies. In Study 3 ( N = 536), Neuroticism differentiated reactive and proactive forms of aggression. In Study 4 ( N = 674), self-reports of bullying behaviors were selectively correlated with proactive aggression. Findings confirm and extend the differential correlates of proactive-reactive aggression and also support the psychometric properties of the RPQ in a different cultural context. Finally, in Study 5 ( N = 347), the RPQ scales showed adequate 2-month test-retest reliability.