"Assessment tool for managing the aggression cycle as early as possible, the Arabic validation of impulsive premeditated aggression scale (IPAS) for children and adolescents"

Abstract

Background Aggression is a relatively stable behavior starts in childhood and continues to adulthood if not managed early , we can’t deny the Bidirectional relation between childhood aggression and child abuse. There is no available Arabic method to differentiate impulsive from premeditated aggression which is crucial point in management. Methods The IPAS was translated into Arabic using forward backward translation ,the Arabic BDEFS- CA and Arabic BPAQ -SF were used to assess the concurrent validity of the scale. Results Five items were excluded due to deficits in reliability resulting in a 25 items scale with Excellent internal consistency (0.95) using Cronbach's Alpha , excellent test retest reliability (ICC =0.9), good Concurrent validity of Arabic IPAS subscales with the Arabic BDEFS-CA subscales and Arabic BPAS-SF subscales, correlation (ρ) from 0.6 to 0.86, p < 0.01 for all the comparisons, Though impulsive aggression might be more responsive to treatment, still it’s not of any less severity than premeditated aggression according to MOAS scores. Conclusions This Arabic IPAS is a valid reliable tool for assessment of aggression subtype in children and adolescents, , The first step to approach an aggressive child should be the  assessment of the aggression subtype for more effective management. Impulsive aggression differs significantly from premeditated aggression in the affected executive functions and accordingly in their treatment.