Abstract
It is unclear whether group differences reported in literature emerged based on true differences or due to measurement bias across gender. The present study aimed to assess the measurement equivalence of three constructs (physical aggression, social aggression, and rule breaking) derived from Subtypes of Antisocial Behaviour (STAB) measure across gender. A sample of 1191 school-going adolescents (41.80 % males and 57.70 % females) was used to test seven types of equivalence: configural, metric, scalar, latent variances, latent mean, latent covariances, and functional equivalence. Physical aggression demonstrated configural invariance, invariance of latent variance, invariance of latent covariance, and functional equivalence, but not metric and scalar invariances. Social aggression and rule-breaking constructs demonstrated equivalence at all levels. Females scored lower on physical aggression, social aggression, and rule breaking compared to males, indicating true gender differences in antisocial behaviour. Assessments of measurement equivalence should be conducted before drawing substantive inferences about gender differences in antisocial behaviour among adolescents.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adamsons, K., & Buehler, C. (2007). Mothering versus fathering versus parenting: measurement equivalence in parenting measures. Parenting: Science and Practice, 7(3), 271–303. doi:10.1080/15295190701498686.
Arbuckle, J. L., & Wothke, W. (2006). AMOS user’s guide version 7.0. Chicago: Small Water.
Atkin, C., Smith, S., Roberto, A., Fediuk, T., & Wagner, T. (2002). Correlates of verbally aggressive communication in adolescents. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 30(3), 251–268. doi:10.1080/00909880216585.
Bacchini, D., Miranda, M. C., & Affuso, G. (2011). Effects of parental monitoring and exposure to community violence on antisocial behaviour and anxiety/depression among adolescents. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 269–292. doi:10.1177/08886260510362879.
Baskin-Sommers, A. R., Baskin, D. R., Sommers, I. B., & Newman, J. P. (2013). The intersectionality of sex, race, and psychopathology in predicting violent crimes. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 40, 1068–1091. doi:10.1177/0093854813485412.
Bem, S. L. (1978). Bem sex role inventory. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Björkqvist, K., Lagerspetz, K. M. J., & Kaukiainen, A. (1992). Do girls manipulate and boys fight?: Developmental trends in regard to direct and indirect aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 18, 117–127.
Bosson, J. K., Vandello, J. A., Burnaford, R. M., Weaver, J. R., & Wasti, S. A. (2009). Precarious manhood and displays of physical aggression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 623–634. doi:10.1177/0146167208331161.
Burt, S. A., & Donnellan, M. B. (2009). Development and validation of the subtypes ofantisocial behaviour questionnaire. Aggressive Behavior, 35, 376–398. doi:10.1002/ab.20314.
Byrne, B. M., Shavelson, R. J., & Muthen, B. (1989). Testing for the equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: the issue of partial measurement invariance. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 456–466.
Carbonell, J. L., & Castro, Y. (2008). The Impact of a leader model on high dominant women’s self- selection for leadership. Sex Roles, 58, 776–783. doi:10.1007/s11199-008-9411-9.
Carmines, E., & Zeller, R. (1979). Reliability and validity assessment. Newbury Park: Sage.
Castro, Y., Carbonell, J. L., & Anestis, J. C. (2011). The influence of gender role on the prediction of antisocial behaviour and somatization. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 58, 409–416. doi:10.1177/0020764011406807.
Cheung, G. W., & Rensvold, R. B. (2002). Evaluating goodness-of-fit indexes for testing measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling, 9(2), 233–255.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Crothers, L. M., Schreiber, J. B., Field, J. E., & Kolbert, J. B. (2008). Development and measurement through confirmatory factor analysis of the young adult social behaviour scale (YASB): an assessment of relational aggression in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 27, 17–28. doi:10.1177/0734282908319664.
Diefendorff, J. M., Silverman, S. B., & Greguras, G. J. (2005). Measurement equivalence and multisource ratings for non-managerial positions: recommendations for research and practice. Journal of Business and Psychology, 19(3), 399–425. doi:10.1007/s10869-004-2235-x.
Education Department of Penang. (2011). Bilangan sekolah ikut jenis PPD. Retrieved from http://www.jpnpenang.edu.my.
Galen, B., & Underwood, M. (1997). A developmental investigation of social aggression among children. Developmental Psychology, 33(4), 589–600.
Hines, A. M. (1993). Linking qualitative and quantitative methods in cross-cultural survey research: techniques from cognitive science. American Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 729–746. doi:10.1007/BF00942245.
Hughes, D., Seidman, E., & Williams, N. (1993). Cultural phenomena and the research enterprise: toward a culturally anchored methodology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 687–704. doi:10.1007/BF00942243.
Hui, C. H., & Triandis, H. C. (1985). Measurement in cross-cultural psychology: a review and comparison of strategies. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 16, 131–152. doi:10.1177/0022002185016002001.
Kline, R. B. (1998). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
Knight, G. P., & Hill, N. E. (1998). Measurement equivalence in research involving minority adolescents. In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 183–210). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Knight, G. P., Little, M., Losoya, S. H., & Mulvey, E. P. (2004). The self-report of offending among serious juvenile offenders: cross-gender, cross-ethnic/race measurement equivalence. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, 2(3), 273–295. doi:10.1177/1541204004265878.
Little, T., Jones, S., Henrich, C., & Hawley, P. (2003). Disentangling the “whys” from the “whats” of aggressive behavior. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 27(2), 122–133. doi:10.1080/01650250244000128.
Maass, A., Cadinu, M., Guarnieri, G., & Grasselli, A. (2003). Sexual harassment under social identity threat: the computer harassment paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 853–870.
Malpass, R. S., & Poortinga, Y. H. (1986). Strategies for design and analysis. In W. J. Lonner & J. W. Berry (Eds.), Field methods in cross-cultural research (pp. 47–84). Newbury Park: Sage.
McGinn, T. (2004). Instructions for probability proportional to size sampling technique. Retrieved from http://www.rhrc.org/resources/general_fieldtools/toolkit/55b%20PPS%20sampling%20technique.pdf.
Meredith, W. (1993). Measurement invariance, factor analysis and factorial invariance. Psychometrika, 58, 525–543. doi:10.1007/BF02294825.
Miller, S., Malone, P. S., & Dodge, K. A. (2010). Developmental trajectories of boys’ and girls’ delinquency: sex differences and links to later adolescent outcomes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 1021–1032. doi:10.1007/s10802-010-9430-1.
Miller-Johnson, S., & Costanzo, P. (2004). If you can’t beat ‘em….induce them to join you: Peer based interventions during adolescence. In J. B. Kupersmidt & K. A. Dodge (Eds.), Children’s peer relations: From development to intervention to policy. Decade of behavior (pp. 209–222). Washington: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/10653-011.
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: a developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/ewaters/55204/slide%20sets/brian_mcfarland_aggression/mo ffitt_aggression.pdf.
Peterson, L., & Rigby, K. (1999). Countering bullying at an Australian secondary school with students as helpers. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 481–492. doi:10.1006/jado.1999.0242.
Remillard, A. M., & Lamb, S. (2005). Adolescent girls’ coping with relational aggression. Sex Roles, 53, 221–229. doi:10.1007/s11199-005-5680-8.
Split, J. L., Koomen, H. M. Y., Thijs, J. T., Stoel, R. D., & van der Leij, A. (2009). Teachers’ assessment of antisocial behaviour in kindergarten: physical aggression and measurement bias across gender. Journal of Psycholoeducational Assessment, 28, 129–138. doi:10.1177/0734282909340236.
Stoolmiller, M. (1994). Antisocial behavior, delinquent peer association, and unsupervised wandering for boys: growth and change from childhood to early adolescence. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 29, 263–288.
Vandello, J. A., & Cohen, D. (2003). Male honor and female fidelity: implicit cultural scripts that perpetuate domestic violence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 997–1010. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.84.5.997.
Vandenberg, R. J., & Lance, C. E. (2000). A review and synthesis of the measurement invariance literature: suggestions, practices, and recommendations for organizational research. Organizational Research Methods, 3, 4–70. doi:10.1177/109442810031002.
Yücel, M. T. (2005). Hukuk Felsefesi [Philosophy of law]. Ankara: Başkent Klişe Press.
Zahn-Waxler, C., Crick, N., Shirtcliff, E. A., & Woods, K. (2005). The origins and development of psychopathology in females and males. In D. Cicchetti & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental and psychopathology: Theory and methods (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 76–138). New York: Wiley.
Acknowledgments
We thank the schools and students who participated in this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
T’ng, S.T., Baharudin, R. & Ismail, Z. Antisocial Behaviour in Malaysian Adolescents: Assessing Measurement Equivalence Across Gender Differences. Child Ind Res 8, 537–550 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-014-9279-x
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-014-9279-x