The structure of oppositionality: response dispositions and situational aspects.

BACKGROUND The Amsterdam Scale of Oppositionality (ASO) is a recently developed self-report instrument to measure the full range of oppositionality. It was used to test the assumption that oppositionality can best be conceptualized as a combination of emotions and behaviors varying across contexts, i.e., with parents, peers and authority figures. METHOD The sample consisted of 560 boys and 598 girls, aged 8 to 12 years. The thirty items of the ASO, grouped in item parcels, were analyzed using confirmatory factor analyses. RESULTS Results confirmed the main hypothesis. The best fitting models contained strongly related emotional and behavioral factors and three mutually related situational factors. Oppositionality appeared to be to a large extent situation-specific. Girls are more affected by the situation than boys and show less oppositionality only outside the family context. CONCLUSIONS Results are discussed with respect to the concept of oppositionality, varying expectations for interpersonal consequences, and implications for clinical assessment and studies of inter-informant reliability.