Citation

Borsa JC, Damásio BF, Bandeira DR, Gremigni P. Child Psychiatry Hum. Dev. 2013; 44(6): 766-776.

Affiliation

Institute of Psychology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10578-013-0368-8

PMID

23404434

Abstract

This study examines measurement invariance, reliability and scores differences of the Peer Aggressive and Reactive Behaviors Questionnaire (PARB-Q) across Italian and Brazilian children, gender and age. Participants were 587 Italian and 727 Brazilian children, aged 7-13 years from 12 elementary schools. The PARB-Q is a brief self-report instrument composed by two scales that assess aggressive behavior and reactions to peer aggression. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses indicated full measurement invariance of the PARB-Q across groups based on country, gender and age, providing support for the unidimensionality of the first scale (direct peer aggression, PA) and a 3-factor model of the second scale (reactive aggression, RA; seeking teacher support, STS; internalizing reaction, IR). Reliability indices were good for all factors. Italian children reported a higher frequency of PA and a lower frequency of IR than the Brazilian children. Boys scored higher than girls on PA and RA, while girls scored higher than boys on STS and IR. Younger children reported a lower frequency of PA and a higher frequency of STS than older children. Results provide support for structure validity and reliability of the PARB-Q in two countries and information on differences related to gender, age and culture in peer relationships in elementary school.

Language: en