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Development and Cross-Cultural and Clinical Validation of a Brief Comprehensive Scale for Assessing Hostility in Medical Settings

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Abstract

This study presents the development and validation of a brief comprehensive hostility scale. Two items of each subscale from the Buss–Perry (1992) Aggression Questionnaire, most strongly correlated with their subscale score, were selected, yielding the eight-item New-Buss. Internal reliability was .66 to .81, and full and brief scales correlated r = .92 to .94. In Study 1 (95 Israeli students), New-Buss scores were significantly higher in self-rated deviant or speeding drivers than nondeviant or nonspeeding drivers, respectively. In Study 2 (279 American students), New-Buss scores correlated significantly with Barefoot's Ho, Anger-Out, Anger-In, and Agreeableness. In Study 3 (79 Israeli patients undergoing angiography), New-Buss scores were significantly correlated with coronary artery disease severity independent of SBP in men below age 60 alone but not in women. Our findings support the cross-cultural feasibility, reliability, and concurrent, construct, and criterion validity of the New-Buss.

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Gidron, Y., Davidson, K. & Ilia, R. Development and Cross-Cultural and Clinical Validation of a Brief Comprehensive Scale for Assessing Hostility in Medical Settings. J Behav Med 24, 1–15 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005631819744

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