Abstract

ROSA, Amorim Gabriel Santos. A study of the cultural adaptation and validation of the Portuguese version of the Attitudes Toward Aggression Scale (ATAS). Rev. Enf. Ref. [online]. 2013, vol.serIII, n.10, pp.69-78. ISSN 0874-0283.  https://doi.org/10.12707/RIII12139.

Background: Violence toward health professionals has consequences at individual, institutional and social levels. Staff attitudes toward aggression are one of the factors known to be associated with the occurrence of violent incidents, as well as their management. Objectives: To analyze the validity and reliability of an instrument to evaluate nurses’ attitudes towards aggressive behavior in psychiatry. Methodology: Factor analysis (principal component analysis - PCA - varimax rotated) and the reliability coefficient (Cronbach´s alpha) were performed with data from a non-probabilistic sample of 158 nurses working in psychiatric wards. Results: The scale had the same 18 items as the original, but the factor structure was modified. A four-factor solution with satisfactory psychometric properties was identified. Each factor constitutes a subscale capable of evaluating a different type of attitude toward violence. The attitudinal dimensions Offensive-intrusive and Destructive versus Communicative and Protective correlate in two basic underlying divergent domains. Conclusion: The Aggression Scale ECADA (Escala de Conotações Atitudinais da Agressão) is valid and reliable measure of the significant domains in nurses’ attitudes towards aggressive patients, contributing to understanding of different ways to react to aggression.

Keywords : violence; aggression; attitudes; nursing.

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