Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire-Short Form in Spanish Children

Abstract

As aggressive behaviors emerge at early ages, is necessary to analyze this construct and its relationship with emotional variables as soon as possible to plan more effective interventions. This work has three main goals. First, to validate the scores of the Aggression Questionnaire Short Form (AQ-SF) in a random sample of 1202 Spanish children (M = 10.09, SD = 1.31, 51% girls), considering its factorial invariance across sex and age and possible differences as a function of these variables. Second, to identify aggression profiles based on the AQ-SF and, finally, to analyze possible differences in school anxiety based on these profiles. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the four-dimensional structure of the AQ-SF scores. Factorial invariance analysis of this model across sex and age confirmed that the model maintains the same structure in boys and girls and different age groups. Latent mean analysis identified significant sex and age differences. Five aggression profiles (High, Moderate High, High Physical, Moderate Low, and Low) were identified using latent profile analysis, and differential functioning of those profiles was found across the dimensions of school anxiety. Results show the adequacy of the AQ-SF scores in Spanish child population and provide relevant data to plan psychoeducational interventions.