Proactive and reactive aggressive behaviors: Dimensionality of self-report scales

• Juliane Callegaro Borsa ^[1] ; Nelson Hauck-Filho ^[3] ; Bruno Figueiredo Damásio ^[2]
  1. [1] Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro

     Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro

     Brasil

     
  2. [2] Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

     Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

     Brasil

     
  3. [3] Universidade São Francisco (Brazil)

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• Localización: The Spanish Journal of Psychology, ISSN 1138-7416, Nº 22, 2019, págs. 1-13
• Idioma: inglés
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  • The literature distinguishes aggressive behavior as being either proactive or reactive; however, despite being highly comorbid, they appear to possess unique correlation patterns to external variables. We propose to assess the dimensionality and latent profiles that emerged based on the Peer Aggressive Behavior Scale (PAB-S) and the Peer Aggressive and Reactive Behavior Questionnaire (PARB-Q). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was conducted on two self-report scales in a non-representative Brazilian sample composed by 2,517 students of elementary school (1,275 girls; 50.7%), aged from seven to 16 years. CFA analyses showed inconclusive results regarding the dimensionality of the data. LPA results, for both instruments, indicated the interdependence between proactive and reactive factors. We suggest that dimensionality issues concerning human aggression might depend, at least in part, on the method used to assess the phenomenon.