Children's Hostility Inventory: Measurement of Aggression and Hostility in Psychiatric Inpatient Children

Abstract

The present study evaluated the Children's Hostility Inventory (CHI), a measure derived from the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory for adults. We examined the aggression and hostility scores of the CHI in relation to clinically derived diagnoses, overt antisocial behavior, and internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Psychiatric inpatient children served as participants. Parents and teachers completed several measures designed to assess antisocial behavior, a range of behavioral problems, antisocial competence. The results indicated that the CHI showed acceptable levels of internal consistency, that the a priori subscales (Assaultiveness, Indirect Hostility, Irritability, Negativism, Resentment and Suspicion, and Verbal Hostility) as well as the factor-analytically derived scales (Aggression, Hostility) distinguished conduct disorder from nonconduct disorder children, and that aggression and hostility scores from the scale were related, respectively, to externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Overall, the results suggest that aggression and hostility can be separately delineated among antisocial youths. We highlight further lines of research to evaluate the CHI and to investigate aggression and hostility in relation to long-term clinical course.