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Hostility Scale – SCL-90
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About Hostility Scale – SCL-90
Scale Name
Hostility Scale – SCL-90
Author Details
Leonard R. Derogatis, Karl Rickels, and Anthony F. Rock
Translation Availability
English
Background/Description
The Hostility Scale, a subscale of the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), developed by Leonard R. Derogatis, Karl Rickels, and Anthony F. Rock in 1976, is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure symptoms of underlying hostility, reflecting qualities such as aggression, irritability, rage, and resentment. The SCL-90, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry, is a 90-item inventory assessing psychological distress across nine symptom dimensions: somatization, obsessive-compulsive, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, hostility, phobic anxiety, paranoid ideation, and psychoticism. The Hostility subscale specifically targets cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of negative anger, aligning with Derogatis et al.’s (1976) conceptualization of hostility as a multidimensional construct. It was adapted for use with African-American males aged 12-16 in urban settings by Paschall and Flewelling (1997) to study violence prevention and risk behaviors.
The Hostility subscale consists of 6 items rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = “not at all” to 4 = “extremely”), assessing experiences like feeling easily annoyed, having urges to break things, or getting into arguments (e.g., “Feeling easily annoyed or irritated”). Scores range from 0 to 24, with higher scores indicating greater hostility. In the context of African-American male adolescents, the scale was used to explore how hostility correlates with aggression and environmental stressors, such as exposure to violence. Its brevity and focus on symptomatic expressions make it suitable for clinical and research settings, particularly in high-risk populations.
Psychologists, clinicians, and public health researchers use the Hostility Scale to assess anger-related psychopathology, evaluate intervention outcomes, and study hostility’s role in violence and mental health among urban youth. Its moderate internal consistency in the adapted population and established validity in broader samples enhance its utility, though its English-only primary use, specific demographic focus in this adaptation, and reliance on self-reports may limit accessibility and generalizability.
Administration, Scoring and Interpretation
- Obtain a copy of the SCL-90 Hostility subscale from primary sources, such as Derogatis et al. (1976) in The British Journal of Psychiatry or Paschall and Flewelling (1997) in Ethnicity and Disease, ensuring ethical use permissions.
- Explain the purpose to respondents, noting that it assesses feelings of anger and irritability to support mental health or research goals, emphasizing confidentiality and using culturally sensitive, age-appropriate language.
- Provide instructions, asking respondents to rate each of the 6 items based on how much they were bothered by hostility symptoms in the past week, using the 5-point scale.
- Approximate time for completion is 2-3 minutes for the subscale, depending on reading ability.
- Administer in a classroom, clinical, or research setting, using paper or digital formats, ensuring a private environment to promote honest responses. Oral administration may be used for adolescents with reading difficulties.
Reliability and Validity
The Hostility subscale demonstrates acceptable psychometric properties in the adapted context, as reported by Paschall and Flewelling (1997). Internal consistency is moderate, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.73 for African-American males aged 12-16, indicating reasonable item cohesion, though lower than the original study’s alpha of 0.84 (Derogatis et al., 1976) or the Brazilian adaptation’s 0.79 (Laloni, 2001). Test-retest reliability is not reported for this specific population but is 0.78 over 7-15 days in the original study, suggesting good temporal stability.
Convergent validity is supported by correlations with related constructs, such as aggression and externalizing behaviors (r ≈ 0.30-0.50), and its association with violence exposure in urban youth, as noted in Paschall and Flewelling (1997). Discriminant validity is inferred from weaker correlations with unrelated constructs, such as academic performance (r < 0.30). Criterion validity is demonstrated by its ability to predict aggressive behaviors and differentiate high-risk youth, consistent with SCL-90 validation studies (Derogatis et al., 1976). Factor analyses confirm a unidimensional structure for the subscale, with factorial loads generally above 0.50 (Cavalcanti et al., 2021), supporting construct validity. The moderate reliability in this adaptation suggests cautious use, ideally paired with other measures for robust assessments.
Available Versions
06-Items
Reference
Derogatis, L. R., Rickels, K., & Rock, A. F. (1976). The SCL-90 and the MMPI: A step in the validation of a new self-report scale. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 128(3), 280-289.
Paschall, M. J., & Flewelling, R. L. (1997). Measuring intermediate outcomes of violence prevention programs targeting African-American male youth: an exploratory assessment of the psychometric properties of six psychosocial measures. Health Education Research, 12(1), 117-128.
Important Link
Scale File:
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Hostility Scale measure?
It measures symptoms of hostility, including aggression, irritability, rage, and resentment.
Who can use the scale?
Psychologists, clinicians, and researchers studying hostility in African-American male youth.
How long does the scale take to complete?
It takes about 2-3 minutes.
Is the scale specific to African-American males?
In this adaptation, it targets males aged 12-16 in urban settings.
Can the scale inform interventions?
Yes, it identifies hostility for targeted programs, but moderate reliability requires caution.
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