TY - JOUR
T1 - Beliefs About Fighting and Their Relations to Urban Adolescents’ Frequency of Aggression and Victimization
T2 - Evaluation of the Beliefs About Fighting Scale
AU - Farrell, Albert D.
AU - Bettencourt, Amie F.
AU - Mehari, Krista R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was funded by the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC Cooperative Agreement 5U01CE001956; National Institute of Justice, grant number 2014-CK-BX-0009; and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, grant number 1R01HD089994. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Justice, or the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2019/6/1
Y1 - 2019/6/1
N2 - This study investigated the structure and concurrent validity of the Beliefs About Fighting Scale (BAFS). Participants were 2,118 students from three urban middle schools who completed measures of their beliefs, frequency of physical aggression, victimization, and nonviolent intentions. Ratings of students’ frequency of physical aggression, physical victimization, and nonviolent behavior were also obtained from their teachers. The majority of the sample was African American (81%). Confirmatory factor analyses supported a model with separate factors representing beliefs against fighting, beliefs that fighting is sometimes necessary, beliefs supporting reactive aggression, and beliefs supporting proactive aggression. Support was also found for strong measurement invariance across sex, grade, and groups that differed in whether a violence-prevention program was being implemented at their school. The four BAFS factors were associated with adolescents’ frequency of aggression, victimization, and nonviolent behavior. This study underscores the importance of assessing multiple aspects of beliefs associated with aggressive behavior.
AB - This study investigated the structure and concurrent validity of the Beliefs About Fighting Scale (BAFS). Participants were 2,118 students from three urban middle schools who completed measures of their beliefs, frequency of physical aggression, victimization, and nonviolent intentions. Ratings of students’ frequency of physical aggression, physical victimization, and nonviolent behavior were also obtained from their teachers. The majority of the sample was African American (81%). Confirmatory factor analyses supported a model with separate factors representing beliefs against fighting, beliefs that fighting is sometimes necessary, beliefs supporting reactive aggression, and beliefs supporting proactive aggression. Support was also found for strong measurement invariance across sex, grade, and groups that differed in whether a violence-prevention program was being implemented at their school. The four BAFS factors were associated with adolescents’ frequency of aggression, victimization, and nonviolent behavior. This study underscores the importance of assessing multiple aspects of beliefs associated with aggressive behavior.
KW - aggression
KW - beliefs
KW - early adolescence
KW - fighting
KW - measurement
KW - nonviolent behavior
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U2 - 10.1177/0272431618791297
DO - 10.1177/0272431618791297
M3 - Article
C2 - 31105373
AN - SCOPUS:85052515322
SN - 0272-4316
VL - 39
SP - 785
EP - 813
JO - Journal of Early Adolescence
JF - Journal of Early Adolescence
IS - 6
ER -