Results of the Maudsley Violence Questionnaire with Chinese Adolescent Offenders and Middle School Students

Objective: In this exploratory and cross-sectional study, we report the initial use of the Maudsley Violence Questionnaire (MVQ) in Chinese adolescents. Methods: The MVQ was translated from English to Chinese for the first time and applied to 500 incarcerated adolescent offenders and 219 middle school students in Guangzhou, China. Results: After adjusting for age, education years, and sex, the MVQ displayed a higher total score as well as 'acceptance' factor and 'machismo' factor scores in adolescent offenders than in middle school students, and in boys versus girls, respectively (ps < .001). Conclusion: The initial use of the MVQ displayed acceptable utility in measuring violence attitudes in Chinese adolescents. A future validity and reliability study of the MVQ in a large and diverse sample of Chinese population groups is warranted.