Development And Application Of Buss-Warren Aggression Questionnaire And Its Norm Among Rural Students Aged 9 To 18 In China

To examine the reliability and validity of the Buss-Warren aggression questionnaire,establish the standardized norm of BWAQ,and apply it among the large sample of Chinese students aged 9 to 18 years living in rural areas.Part 1.Development of Buss-Warren aggression questionnaire based on students aged from 9 to 18 in 15 Chinese rural areasObjective:To development and validation of Chinese version of Buss-Warren’s aggression questionnaire(BWAQ)for assessing aggression among Chinese students living in rural areas.Methods:A stratified random cluster sample of 21543 Chinese rural students among 26 elementary schools,24 junior and 23 senior high schools aged from 9 to 18 completed the Chinese version of Buss-Warren’s aggression questionnaire(BWAQ).The internal consistency reliability of the original and revised editions of BWAQ was calculated by Cronbach’s a coefficient and Spearman-Brown split-half reliability coefficient.Six-joint item analyses were used to explore the discriminability,relevance,effectiveness,contribution,and sensitivity of each item.Exploratory factor analysis was employed to assess the factor loading.Linear correlation and confirmatory factor analysis were used to evaluate the content validity and structure validity of the original and revised BWAQ.Results:(1)The revised BWAQ consists of 5 dimensions,30 items.(2)The Cronbach’s a and Spearman-Brown split-half reliability coefficient of the whole revised BWAQ were 0.87,0.84,respectively,and the revised version had good retest reliability of 0.88.(3)The correlation coefficient between the whole revised BWAQ and its subscales were ranged from 0.665 to 0.806,and 0.987 with original BWAQ(P<0.001).(4)The model fit indices of revised BWAQ were RMSEA,0.042;RMR,0.048;GFI,0.947;IFI,0.872;CFI,0.872,HOELTER 0.05,596;Which were all superior to those of unrevised version.Conclusion:The revised version of the BWAQ had good internal consistency reliability and validity in the present study,and it is worth to be employed in rural China.Part 2.Development of the standardized norm of BWAQ among Chinese students aged 9-18 years living in rural areasObjective:Based on part 1,we aim to establish a Chinese norm of BWAQ which can provide effective evaluation for aggression,and as well as for intervention of aggression among students in rural areas of China.Methods:Analysis of variance and student’s t test were used to investigate the statistical significant differences in age and gender on the scores of the whole BWAQ and its five subscales.Effect analysis was used to explore whether statistical significant differences in gender and age have actual effect.Primitive scores were converted into Z scores and T scores.The levels of aggression in the standard norm were grouped into "very low","low","average","low average","high average","high",and "very high" according to“<-2σ"、"-2σ--σ"、"-σ-0.5σ"、"-0.5σ-0.5a"、"0.5σ-σ"、"σ-2σ"、">2σ".Results:(1)Although the scores of total BWAQ and its five subscales have statistical significant differences in all age groups,the effect size of some age groups have lower clinical trials.Therefore,we rearranged the sample into three age groups:the first aged from 9 to 10,the second aged from 11 to 15,and third aged from 16 to 18.(2)The scores of whole BWAQ and its subscales have significant gender differences among these three age groups(P<0.01),except for those of the second age group and the third age group on the subscale of indirect aggression and hostility(P>0.05).The result of further analysis revealed that gender differences in the first age group and the third age group on physical aggression subscale had moderate effect size,while the effect size of gender differences on others was low.(4)According to the results of the analysis above,the subscales of indirect aggression and physical aggression were respectively established norm standards.(5)The standardized norm of the whole BWAQ and its five subscales were presented with T-score values,and primitive scores according to seven levels:"very low","low","low average","high average","high",and "very high".Conclusions:Being built on the standardized sample,the subscales of indirect aggression and physical aggression were firstly layered by age and gender,respectively,According to the results of statistic significant differences and effect size.And then,the rural norm of BWAQ and its five subscales were established both with T-score values and related primitive scores at seven levels,which can be easy to understand and use,and make results of researches on aggression at home and abroad comparsion.Part 3.Application of Buss-Warren aggression questionnaire and its norm among adolescents living in rual areas of ChinaObjective:On the basis of the first two parts,which including development of BWAQ and its norm,we aim to evaluate the prevalence of aggression and the association between stressful life events and aggression in a nationwide,school-based sample of adolescents aged 12 to 18 years living in Chinese rural areas.Methods:Aggression,stressful life events,neglect,loneliness,emotional management,social support,and demographic characteristics were assessed via self-report questionnaires.Descriptive statistics,Chi-square test,student’s t-test,cronbach’s a coefficient,univariate logistic regression analysis,multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data.OR and 95%CI were reported for all potential factors entered into logistic regression models.The significance level was set at P<0.05,and all tests were two-sided.Results:(1)In the present study,the self-reported aggression prevalence among Chinese adolescents living in rural areas was 28.7%.Boys were more likely to engage in aggression than girls(P<0.001),and students aged from 16 to 17 years tended to be more aggressive than other age groups.The findings in current study also showed that adolescents from step-family,high socioeconomic status had higher incidence of aggression.In addition,loneliness,emotional management,social support,neglect,and stressful life events were significant associated with aggression as well.However,there were no statistic significant differences in the prevalence of aggression between left-behind adolescents and non-left behind adolescents,only one-child and child from a big family,and different levels of parents’ education(P>0.05).(2)Univariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that participants who had experienced neglect and 6 different types of stressful life events showed greater risk for aggression during the previous 12 months(OR = 2.127,95%CI[1.952-2.317];OR ＝7.498,95%CI[4.717-11.918]).High levels of emotional management or social support lowered the odds of aggression(OR = 0.072,95%CI[0.059-0.087];OR = 0.286,95%CI[0.250-0.328]).Family income and family structure were significantly associated with aggression(P<0.001).The odds ratio of aggression in boys was 1.157 times higher than that in girls,and the 16-18 age group had a greater risk for aggression in comparsion to the 12-13 age group(OR = 1.308,95%CI[1.185-1.444]).(3)Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that a greater odds of aggression among those exposed to interpersonal problems(OR = 1.484,95%CI[1.216-1.811]),academic pressure(OR = 1.379,95%CI[1.207-1.575]),health adaptation difficulties(OR＝1.170,95%CI[1.059-1.292]),and other events(OR = 1.878,95%CI[1.701-2.073])even after controlling for demographic characteristics,loneliness,neglect,emotional management,social support and other variables.Conclusions:The higher prevalence of aggression among adolescents living in rural areas of China should be focused by social concern.There were many variables including demographic characteristics such as gender,age,family structure,family income,and loneliness,emotional management,stressful life events,neglect,social support were found to have a significant association with aggression.Besides,this study also support the hypothesis that stressful life events,particularly interpersonal problems,academic pressure,health adaptation difficulties,and other problems can predict the aggression among adolescents living in Chinese rural areas.These findings might help to increase our understanding of how individuals respond to negative experiences and enhance our awareness of how mental health and social services should implement more effective risk prevention programs for adolescents living in rural areas of China.