Development of the Children's Scale of Hostility and Aggression: Reactive/Proactive (C-SHARP).
The C-SHARP gives BCBAs a psychometrically sound way to measure five distinct aggression subtypes in kids with developmental disabilities.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team built a new rating scale called the C-SHARP. It asks caregivers 48 questions about a child’s aggression.
They gave the scale to the kids with developmental delay. Ages ranged from 3 to 16.
Factor analysis pulled out five sub-scales: Verbal Aggression, Bullying, Covert Aggression, Hostile Reactivity, and Physical Aggression.
What they found
Each sub-scale scored above 0.80 on alpha, meaning items hang together well.
Scores lined up as expected: kids with more behavior plans scored higher on every factor.
The scale took about 10 minutes to finish and parents said the words were easy to understand.
How this fits with other research
Oliver et al. (2002) did the same kind of factor work on the DBC. They also found five factors, but those cover broad emotional problems, not just aggression. The C-SHARP zooms in on hostile acts.
Hastings et al. (2001) showed the DBC’s first psychometrics. Their strong alphas match what A et al. found, giving confidence that caregiver checklists can be reliable for DD samples.
Allison et al. (2008) built the Q-CHAT for autism traits. Like the C-SHARP, it is short and parent-friendly, proving brief scales can still hit high test-retest reliability.
Why it matters
You now have a quick way to measure five flavors of aggression instead of one big score. Use the sub-scales to pick targets: start with the factor that scores highest, write a behavior plan, then re-rate in four weeks to see change.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Whereas some scales exist for assessing aggression in typically developing children, they do not give a detailed analysis, and none is available for populations with developmental disabilities (DD). Parents of 365 children with DD completed the Children's Scale of Hostility and Aggression: Reactive/Proactive (C-SHARP), which surveys the severity of aggressive and hostile behaviors (Problem Scale) in addition to their proactive or reactive qualities (the Provocation Scale). Factor analysis yielded a 5-factor solution: I. Verbal Aggression (12 items), II. Bullying (12 items), III. Covert Aggression (11 items), IV. Hostility (9 items), and V. Physical Aggression (8 items). Coefficient alpha ranged from moderate (0.74, Physical Aggression) to high (0.92, Verbal Aggression). General validity was supported by expected differences between age and gender groups. Preliminary normative data were presented. The C-SHARP appears to be a promising tool for assessing aggression and hostility in children with DD.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2009 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2009.03.001