Citation

Hartung CM, Little CS, Allen EK, Page MC. Sch. Ment. Health 2011; 3(1): 44-57.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s12310-010-9046-1

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Numerous rating scales have been designed to assess bullying and victimization; however, the psychometric properties of these measures have been understudied. As a result, the accuracy of evaluations that determine the effectiveness of bullying policies or prevention programs is uncertain. The current study was designed to (a) compare the psychometric properties of two commonly-used student self-report measures of bullying and victimization in 3rd through 5th graders, (b) examine the psychometric properties of these two measures by sex and grade, and (c) examine sex and grade differences in levels of bullying and victimization. Participants were 532 elementary school students in Grades 3 through 5. Students completed the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) and the Reynolds Bully-Victimization Scales (BVS). Measures were completed during guidance classes. In general, students admitted to more victimization than bullying. Further, internal consistency analyses indicated that the BVS had better reliability than the OBVQ which is likely a result of more items on BVS subscales than on OBVQ subscales. A number of interesting sex and grade differences were also identified. Implications for the assessment of school bullying and victimization are discussed.

Language: en