Development and Psychometric Properties of the Test of Passive Aggression

Development and Validation of a Measure of Passive Aggression Traits: The Passive Aggression Scale (PAS)

Although passive aggression is known as a pathological personality trait, the concept is unclear, and there is a lack of tools to measure it comprehensively. Thus, this study developed and validated a tool for measuring passive-aggressive behaviors. Data on basic information about passive aggression traits were collected from 20 experts using open-ended questions. To verify content validity, Delphi surveys were conducted twice with five experts. Data for item analysis were collected from 123 Korean adults. Reliability and validity were analyzed using data obtained from 408 Korean adults. The three-factor model for the passive aggression scale (PAS) showed satisfactory model fits. Cronbach’s αs for inducing criticism, avoiding/ignoring, and sabotaging subscales, and the total PAS, were 0.91, 0.91, 0.92, and 0.93, respectively. The test–retest coefficient of the PAS also indicates that this tool is reliable. Analyses of the criterion-related validity revealed that the PAS was closely correlated with the scores of some scales that measure passive aggression with a single factor. In addition, the correlations between the PAS, Cook-Medley Hostility Scale, and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory scores supported our understanding of the concept of passive aggression. This study highlights the utility of PAS as a useful and comprehensive measure of passive-aggressive behaviors to be adopted by researchers and clinicians.

Self-directed passive-aggressive behaviour as an essential component of depression: findings from two cross-sectional observational studies

BACKGROUND

The self-control model of depression suggests depressive symptoms to derive from distorted self-monitoring, dysfunctional self-evaluation and reduced self-reward as well as increased self-punishment. Building on this model a relationship between self-directed passive-aggressive behaviour, that is, harmful inactivity, and depression has been assumed. This association has been supported by a recent study in an inpatient sample. However, it remains unclear if patients with depressive disorders report more self-directed passive-aggressive behaviour than patients without depressive disorders and if self-directed passive aggression mediates the associations between distorted self-monitoring and dysfunctional self-evaluation with depressive symptoms.

METHODS

Study 1 compared self-directed passive-aggressive behaviour levels between 220 psychotherapy outpatients with (n = 140; 67.9% female; Mage = 40.0) and without (n = 80; 65.0% female; Mage = 36.2) depressive disorders. Diagnoses were made based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Study 2 examined self-directed passive-aggressive behaviour as a mediator of the relationship between distorted self-monitoring and dysfunctional self-evaluation and self-reported depressive symptoms in 200 undergraduate Psychology students.

RESULTS

Compared to outpatients without depressive disorders, outpatients with depressive disorder reported significantly more self-directed passive aggression (d = 0.51). Furthermore, Study 2 verified self-directed passive-aggressive behaviour as a partial mediator of the relationship between dysfunctional attitudes (abcs = .22, 95%-CI: .14, .31), attributional style (abcs = .20, 95%-CI: .13, .27), ruminative response style (abcs = .15, 95%-CI: .09, .21) and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION

Self-directed passive-aggressive behaviour partially mediates the association between distorted self-monitoring and dysfunctional self-evaluation with depressive symptoms. Future longitudinal studies need to examine a potential causal relationship that would form a base to include interventions targeting self-directed passive-aggressive behaviour in prevention and treatment of depression.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Both studies were preregistered at the German Clinical Trials Register ( DRKS00014005 and DRKS00019020 ).

Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Test of Passive Aggression in a Psychotherapy Outpatient Sample

Background: While most clinical aggression questionnaires focus on the assessment of active aggression, the recently developed Test of Passive Aggression (TPA) assesses both self-directed (TPA-SD) and other-directed passive aggression (TPA-OD). Reliability and factorial validity of the TPA have been demonstrated in a clinical sample, while previous evaluations of convergent and discriminant validity were limited to student samples. The current study aimed at addressing this gap by demonstrating convergent and discriminant validity of the TPA in an outpatient sample.

Methods: Eighty-two patients admitted to an outpatient psychotherapy unit at Saarland University, Germany, participated in the preregistered study with an assessment of self-reported passive aggression, impulsivity, anger expression, self-compassion, self-esteem, and auto-aggressive mindset. Analyses used regression models with robust maximum likelihood estimations.

Results: Self-directed passive aggression showed a significant association with self-compassion, auto-aggressive mindset, self-esteem, and internal anger expression supporting the convergent validity of TPA-SD. Results on discriminant validity of TPA-SD were heterogenous at the first sight, revealing small associations of self-directed passive aggression with anger control but medium associations with impulsivity. However, exploratory analysis showed that the medium association with impulsivity was driven by the non-behavioral impulsivity dimension “inattention” and that both behavioral impulsivity dimensions (“motor-impulsivity” and “unplanned behavior”) demonstrated only weak associations with TPA-SD. Validity of TPA-OD was not supported by the current study.

Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence for the validity of the TPA-SD to outpatient samples. Future studies will need to analyze construct validity based on a nomological network using larger and more diverse samples.