In this study, we assessed the cross-cultural generalizability of the Reactive–Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) and tested the hypotheses that boys show higher levels of proactive aggression with increasing age and that a two-factor (reactive–proactive) structure will be observed in an East Asian population. We administered the RPQ to 5,615 male and female 11- to 15-year-old schoolchildren. CFA demonstrated a good fit of the two-factor reactive–proactive model. Proactive aggression increased significantly with age in boys but not girls, whereas reactive aggression showed no gender difference and only a minimal age increase. Results suggest the presence of meaningful differences between these aggression subtypes and the generalizability of the RPQ in an East Asian population.

While persuasive evidence has accumulated over the past 15 years documenting an association between schizophrenia and violence, there are 3 unresolved issues. First, does a downward extension of this relationship exist at the nonclinical level with respect to schizotypal personality and aggression in children? Second, is aggression more associated with impulsive reactive aggression or with more planned proactive aggression. Third and importantly, does peer victimization mediate the relationship between schizotypy and aggression? A further aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the utility of a new child self-report measure of schizotypal personality. These issues were examined in a sample of 3804 schoolchildren assessed on schizotypy using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Child (SPQ-C), reactive-proactive aggression, and peer victimization. A confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the 3-factor structure (cognitive-perceptual, interpersonal, and disorganized) of the SPQ-C. Schizotypy was positively associated with total aggression and reactive aggression but not with proactive aggression. Peer victimization was found to significantly mediate the schizotypy-aggression relationship, accounting for 58.9% of the association. Results are broadly consistent with the hypothesis that schizotypal features elicit victimization from other children, which in turn predisposes to reactive retaliatory aggression. Findings are to the authors' knowledge the first to document any mediator of the schizotypy-aggression relationship and have potential treatment implications for violence reduction in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. This study also provides initial evidence for the factorial and discriminant validity of a brief and simple measure of schizotypal personality in children as young as 8 years.

This cross-sectional study examined the nature of child and adolescent psychopathy using the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) in 3,675 schoolchildren (ages 11–16) in Hong Kong, China. A confirmatory factor analysis observed a good fit for the three-factor model (callous-unemotional, impulsivity, narcissism) of APSD, with boys scoring higher than girls on narcissism and callous-unemotional traits. Modest construct validity was found with regard to expected relationships with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The previously observed higher scores on callous-unemotional traits in boys at older ages were replicated. Findings suggest that child psychopathy may be applicable in a non-Western culture, although the callous-unemotional factor may have a different meaning in China.