U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

Measurement of Dating Aggression During Middle School: Structure, Measurement Invariance, and Distinction From General Aggression

NCJ Number
249413
Journal
Journal of Research on Adolescence Volume: 26 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2015 Pages: 509-523
Date Published
May 2015
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Two studies examined the factor structure of a modified version of the Safe Dates dating aggression scale and evaluated whether dating aggression is distinct from general aggression during early adolescence.
Abstract
Analyses were conducted on a derivation sample of 3,894 adolescents from 37 schools (Study 1) and an independent cross-validation sample of 938 middle school youth (Study 2). Categorical confirmatory factor analyses supported a two-factor model (perpetration and victimization) over models differentiating psychological and physical forms of aggression. The model was invariant across time, sex, grade, and season. Study 2 also supported dating aggression as distinct from general aggression. Results supported measuring dating aggression perpetration and victimization as latent constructs represented by ordered categorical indicators that capture item severity and frequency. (Publisher abstract)

Date Published: May 1, 2015