Psychometric properties of the Attitudes to Institutional Authority in adolescence Scale (AAI-A)

Adolescent attitudes to institutional authority are related to their implication in deviant and risk behaviors such as substance abuse and pre-delinquency. Attitudes towards teachers, the police, the school and laws constitute, therefore, a relevant variable in the study of psychosocial adjustment in adolescence. The objective of the present work is to contribute a reliable instrument for the measurement of these attitudes, and to analyze the psychometric properties of the Attitudes to Institutional Authority in Adolescence Scale (AAI-A). Factor structure of this scale is examined by means of exploratory factor analyses, confirmatory factor analyses, and multigroup analyses, in two independent samples of adolescent students (1795 Spanish and 1494 Mexican). Results obtained show a bifactorial structure, being factors referred to Positive attitude to institutional authority and Positive attitude towards transgression of rules. This scale also shows adequate reliability coefficients and significant correlations with adolescent aggressive behavior and their perception of teachers in the school context.