Scale Analysis

The Past Feelings and Acts of Violence Scale (PFAV-12) was developed in 1990 by Plutchik and van Praag and consists of 12 items that focus on feelings of anger based on overt behavior or past history.

Objective

The primary aim of the scale is to assess the risk of violent behavior (physical aggression) in order to identify individuals who are highly likely to exhibit some form of aggressive action.

Item Scoring

The PFAV-12 contains twelve items, each with four possible responses ranging from 0 (never) to 5 (very often). Specifically:
The first three items assess the frequency of anger.
The next six items evaluate the frequency of violent behaviors and the accessibility of weapons.
Items 10 and 11 ask about a history of aggressive and non-aggressive criminal behavior.
The final question asks whether the individual keeps a weapon at home and knows how to use it.
It is noteworthy that a score of 5 on the PFAV provides 71% specificity and sensitivity in distinguishing violent from non-violent psychiatric patients.

Statistical Analysis

The PFAV Scale produces an overall index calculated through statistical processing of the data. It is noted that the higher the score, the greater the likelihood that the individual may be violent.

Validity and Reliability

The scale has demonstrated good internal consistency and adequate reliability, with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of α = 0.77.

References

Plutchik, R., & Van Praag, H. M. (1990). A self-report measure of violence risk, II. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 31(5), 450–456.