Title

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

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2016

Publication Title

Journal of Research on Adolescence

Abstract

© 2015 The Authors. Journal of Research on Adolescence © 2015 Society for Research on Adolescence 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. 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.

DOI

10.1111/jora.12208

Volume

26

Issue

3

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