RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF MEASURES OF ANGER HOSTILITY IN SINGAPORE - COOK-AND-MEDLEY HO SCALE, STAXI AND BUSS-DURKEE HOSTILITY INVENTORY/

As part of a larger research programme concerned with the role of ange r/hostility in heart disease in Singapore, three commonly used measure s of anger/hostility (Cook & Medley Ho Scale, STAXI, Buss-Durkee Hosti lity Inventory) were examined for reliability and validity in an Asian population. A total of 968 Singaporean Chinese, Malay and Indian resp ondents completed one or more of these measures together with measures of symptom and illness experience. In addition, blood pressure and he art rate measures were taken for 201 respondents. Overall, the Ho and STAXI measures had reasonably high internal consistency and test-retes t reliability. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability for th e Buss-Durkee measure were high for the total score but variable for t he component scales. Correlation and regression showed that the Ho and STAXI appeared to be tapping a common core of variance, which can be characterized as trait anger. Correlations of the Ho and STAXI with he alth measures produced modest but statistically significant correlatio ns for measures of symptom and illness experience and generally low an d non-significant correlations for heart rate and blood pressure. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.