Development of the Adult Scale of Hostility and Aggression: Reactive-Proactive (A-SHARP).
The A-SHARP gives caregivers a sound five-factor way to rate adult aggression in IDD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Matlock et al. (2011) built a new rating scale for adult aggression.
Caregivers answer 49 items that split aggression into five buckets.
The team tested the scale on adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
What they found
The five parts hang together well.
Scores rise and fall in ways that make sense.
The paper also gives norm tables so you can see how any adult compares.
How this fits with other research
Johnson et al. (2009) and Jones et al. (2010) did the same job for kids.
Their C-SHARP has the same five factors, just worded for children.
Smith et al. (2014) later checked the adult version against doctors’ diagnoses and the BPI.
Their data back up the A-SHARP, turning the 2011 idea into a tool you can trust.
Why it matters
If you serve adults with IDD, you now have a quick caregiver form that splits reactive from proactive aggression.
Use it at intake, after meds change, or anytime you need a number to guide treatment.
It takes ten minutes and gives you five clear sub-scores to track.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In this study, the authors developed the Adult Scale of Hostility and Aggression Reactive-Proactive (A-SHARP). Sixty-one caregivers rated 512 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities on the A-SHARP. Exploratory factor analysis revealed 5 factors on the Problem Scale: (a) Verbal Aggression, (b) Physical Aggression, (c) Hostile Affect, (d) Covert Aggression, and (e) Bullying. Internal consistency was high, and intercorrelation of subscales suggested logical convergent and divergent validity. Separate scores were also derived for the Provocation Scale, which was developed to reflect motivation for the aggression (reactive vs. proactive). Analyses of demographic variables revealed 1 gender effect, several effects due to age and functional level, and no effect of ethnicity. Normative data are provided for the Problem Scale.
American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2011 · doi:10.1352/1944-7558-116.2.130