Aggression Towards Parents—High Risk Behavioral Assessment

Abstract

The Aggression Towards Parents—High Risk Behavioral Assessment is a specialized instrument designed to evaluate the intensity and prevalence of aggressive behaviors within the adolescent-parent relationship. Developed in 1989, this assessment moves beyond typical family conflict to focus on high-risk behaviors, often classified as child-to-parent violence or parental abuse. The scale measures both the adolescent’s perpetration of physical, psychological, emotional, and financial abuse against parents, and their exposure to parental aggression and family distress indicators like running away from home. Data is collected through a structured, one-on-one interview format.

Keywords

Adolescent aggression, Child-to-parent violence, parental abuse, family violence, high-risk behavior, youth assessment, family conflict, psychological assessment.

Authors

Dolan S.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Aggression Towards Parents—High Risk Behavioral Assessment is to quantify the extent and frequency of aggressive and abusive behaviors within the family unit involving adolescents. It aims specifically to distinguish between normative rebellious behavior or general family conflict and actions that constitute severe abusive behavior against parents.

This instrument serves as a critical screening tool for identifying youths (aged 8–18) who are either exhibiting aggressive behaviors towards their parents or are exposed to significant levels of aggressive family interaction. The results are intended to inform clinical intervention strategies, particularly those based on Family Therapy models, designed for parents struggling to manage severely defiant or abusive children.

Construct

This scale measures the construct of severe adolescent aggression and high-risk family behavior, encompassing both the perpetration of abuse by the adolescent and the exposure to aggression within the home environment. The construct of abuse measured here is defined as behavior leading to humiliation, harassment, and defiance of parental authority with the intention to dominate and hurt parents.

The aggression construct is assessed across four distinct dimensions, as highlighted by relevant literature:

• Physical abuse: Actions such as hitting, punching, throwing things, and other forms of physical violence.
• Psychological abuse: Behavior intended to intimidate and humiliate parents, often through verbal violence.
• Emotional abuse: Malicious mind games including lies, blackmails, and manipulative threats.
• Financial abuse: Stealing money, selling parental possessions, or incurring debts that parents are obligated to cover.

Furthermore, the scale assesses associated high-risk behaviors, including the adolescent’s frequency of running away from home and their awareness of peer-related aggression towards parents, as well as parental aggression towards children.

Validity

Specific quantitative data regarding traditional psychometric validation, such as criterion or construct validity coefficients, were not explicitly reported in the provided source material. Studies focusing on this specific area of child-to-parent violence have historically been scant, which presents a challenge for broad validation.

However, the assessment demonstrates strong content validity through its comprehensive coverage of established dimensions of family violence, drawing on the work of authors such as Cottrell (2001) and Fernández (2007). By including measures of physical, psychological, emotional, and financial abuse, the scale captures the recognized complexity of severe adolescent aggression against parents.

Reliability

Specific reliability measures, such as internal consistency (e.g., Cronbach’s Alpha) or test-retest reliability, are not reported in the available source documentation for the Aggression Towards Parents—High Risk Behavioral Assessment. Given that the instrument originated as a doctoral dissertation, further empirical research is necessary to establish the scale’s consistency and stability across varied adolescent populations and clinical settings.

Factor Analysis

Information concerning the factor structure or the results of any exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis for this scale is not provided in the source materials. The instrument’s scoring method suggests an additive or cumulative approach, where the number of occurrences of aggressive behaviors and the average reported frequency are combined to yield a total score representing the overall level of exposure to aggressive family behavior.

Instrument

Test Type: Behavioral assessment; High-risk behavior screening tool.

Format: Structured, one-on-one interview format consisting of forced-choice (Yes/No) questions regarding occurrence, followed by frequency ratings and open-ended qualitative prompts.

Language Available: English (Implied).

Population Group: Youth and Adolescents.

Age Group: 8–18 years.

Population Details: Students; used in research focusing on violence-related attitudes, behaviors, and influences among youth.

Test Methodology: The scoring methodology sums the number of “A” items (occurrence) answered “yes.” Open-ended questions are not scored numerically. For respondents who report at least one occurrence, the frequency is calculated by averaging the answers to the “B” or “C” items (How often?). Point values assigned are: Rarely (1–3/year) = 1; Occasionally (1–2/month) = 2; Regularly (daily or 1–2/week) = 3. A higher final score indicates a higher level of exposure to aggressive family behavior, posing risks to psychological health.

Keywords

Adolescent aggression, family violence, youth risk behavior, behavioral assessment, parental conflict, interview-based scale, psychological abuse, financial abuse.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified.

Correspondence Address: Not specified.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Aggression Towards Parents—High Risk Behavioral Assessment was developed and documented in 1989 by S. Dolan.

The instrument was included in a publicly available resource by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf (pages 191–192).

Reference’s

• Dolan S. Doctoral Dissertation. Chicago‚ IL: University of Chicago‚ Department of Psychology‚ 1989.
• Cottrell, B. (2001). [Referenced in source for defining dimensions of abuse].
• Fernández, R. (2007). [Referenced in source for defining dimensions of abuse].

Items of the Aggression Towards Parents—High Risk Behavioral Assessment

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1	A. Do you know of kids who shout or curse at their parents? ■ Yes ■ No
	B. How often? Rarely(1-3/year)‚ Occasionally(1-2/month)‚ Regularly (daily or 1-2/week)
2	A. Have any of your friends shouted‚ cursed‚ or hit their parents? ■ Yes ■ No
	B. How often? Rarely(1-3/year)‚ Occasionally(1-2/month)‚ Regularly (daily or 1-2/week)
3	Why do you think your friends strike out at their parents?   . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .
4	A. Have you ever shouted‚ cursed‚ or hit your parents? ■ Yes ■ No
	B. How often? Rarely(1-3/year)‚ Occasionally(1-2/month)‚ Regularly (daily or 1-2/week)
	C. Why did you shout‚ curse‚ or hit your parents? . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .
5	A. Why do you think parents shout or hit their children? . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .
	B. Do you know of any adults who hit or yell at their children? ■ Yes ■ No
	C. How often? Rarely(1-3/year)‚ Occasionally(1-2/month)‚ Regularly (daily or 1-2/week)
6	A. Have any of your friend’s parents hit or yelled at their children? ■ Yes ■ No
	B. How often? Rarely(1-3/year)‚ Occasionally(1-2/month)‚ Regularly (daily or 1-2/week)
7	Why do you think some kids run away from home? . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . [quads id=5]
	B. Do you know of any kids who have run away from home? ■ Yes ■ No
	C. How often? Rarely(1-3/year)‚ Occasionally(1-2/month)‚ Regularly (daily or 1-2/week)
8	A. Have any of your friends run away from home? ■ Yes ■ No
	B. How often? Rarely(1-3/year)‚ Occasionally(1-2/month)‚ Regularly (daily or 1-2/week)
9	A. Have you ever run away from home? ■ Yes ■ No
	B. How often? Rarely(1-3/year)‚ Occasionally(1-2/month)‚ Regularly (daily or 1-2/week)
	C. Why did you run away from home? . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . .