Premium
A Longitudinal Confirmatory Factor Analysis of Indirect and Physical Aggression: Evidence of Two Factors Over Time?
Author(s) -
Vaillancourt Tracy,
Brendgen Mara,
Boivin Michel,
Tremblay Richard E.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1046/j.1467-8624.2003.00628.x
Subject(s) - aggression , psychology , confirmatory factor analysis , developmental psychology , path analysis (statistics) , longitudinal study , poison control , injury prevention , human factors and ergonomics , structural equation modeling , clinical psychology , medicine , medical emergency , statistics , mathematics , pathology
The purpose of the present study was to examine whether indirect aggression was distinct from physical aggression across developmental periods. Participants were 3,089 Canadian children aged 4 to 7 years (Time 1), 6 to 9 years (Time 2), and 8 to 11 years (Time 3). Confirmatory factor analysis using an accelerated longitudinal design confirmed a 2‐factor model that was stable across cohorts, time, and sex. The longitudinal predictive links between indirect and physical aggression were also examined in a path analysis. Findings did not support the notion that maturation is associated with changes in the ways children aggress but rather suggest that children are consistent in the type of aggression they use over time, whether it be indirect or physical.