Male-Female and Aggressor-Victim Differences in the Factor Structure of the Modified Conflict Tactics Scale

• NCJ Number: 150391
• Journal: Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1994) Pages: 366-382
• Author(s): H S Pan; P H Neidig; K D O'Leary
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH35341; MH19107
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study used factor analysis to test and cross- validate data on large samples of military personnel in order to explore whether physical aggression could be classified as mild and severe and whether gender-specific differences would be reflected.

Abstract

To obtain data, the modified Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) was administered to approximately 15 percent of personnel on 38 U.S. military bases. Separate analyses were performed on male subjects reporting on self, female subjects reporting on self, female subjects reporting on male partners, and male subjects reporting on female partners. The results from analyses of self as aggressor indicated that most of the different tactics in the scale could be described as psychological or physical aggression; the results also showed that aggression could be divided into mild or severe categories. This factor structure was replicated when men reported on themselves as victims, but the factor structure of women as victims did not follow a general pattern. The authors recommend the use of oblique rotation in factor analysis, as it yielded simply factor structures that could be interpreted meaningfully. 3 tables and 26 references