Construct validity and reliability of Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire – Brazilian version

Francine Guimarães Gonçalves,Gabriela Adamatti Rodrigues,Luciano Santos Pinto Guimarães,Marcelly Filipetto,Bianca Nascimento Peixoto,Elizeth Heldt

doi:10.1186/s41155-016-0019-7

Francine Guimarães Gonçalves, Gabriela Adamatti Rodrigues + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-016-0019-7

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Abstract

The Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) is among the few bullying assessment instruments with well-established psychometric properties in different countries. Nevertheless, the psychometric properties of the Brazilian version (Questionario de Bullying de Olweus - QBO) have not been determined. We aimed at verifying the construct validity and reliability of the bully and victim scales of the QBO. To achieve that goal, the victim and bully scales were assessed using polytomous item response theory (IRT). The best fit was obtained with a generalized partial credit model that is capable of measuring the specific discriminating power for each item in these scales. The QBO was administered to 703 public school students (mean age: 13 years; standard deviation = 1.58). Based on IRT analysis, the number of response categories in each item was reduced from four to three. Cronbach reliability scores were satisfactory: α = 0.85 (victim scale) and α = 0.87 (bully scale). In this study, hurtful comments, persecution, or threats had high power to discriminate victims and bullies. For both QBO scales, higher severity parameters were observed for direct bullying items. The results also show that the construct of both QBO scales measures the same construct proposed for the overall instrument. Thus, the QBO can be administered to different Brazilian populations to assess the main characteristics of bullying: repetition of behavior over time and intentionally acting to humiliate, threaten, or harm somebody.

Highlights

Bullying, one of the most common forms of violence in schools, is defined as power asymmetry associated with differences in age, gender, or race which is exploited by one or more individuals with the intention of hurting or humiliating another (Olweus, 1993)
Given the complexity associated with the assessment of bullying, and the lack of validated instruments to evaluate this construct, the use of item response theory (IRT) to investigate the construct validity of both scales of the Questionário de Bullying de Olweus (QBO), define the adequate number of response categories, and verify item discriminating power and severity was an important contribution to the literature
We found that adding up the scores on all items of the QBO without considering the relative weight of each item may interfere with the validity of this measure and, with the findings of studies which use the traditional versions of the QBO

Summary

Introduction

One of the most common forms of violence in schools, is defined as power asymmetry associated with differences in age, gender, or race which is exploited by one or more individuals with the intention of hurting or humiliating another (Olweus, 1993). Recurrence over time is a key aspect of bullying (Berger, 2007), along with the involvement of a bully, or perpetrator, and of a victim, the target of the aggression. Some individuals may be at the same time perpetrators and victims, and are classified as bully-victims (Malta et al, 2010). In broad terms, bullying may be classified as direct or indirect (Lopes Neto, 2005). Face-to-face bullying draws more attention because it involves open aggression, including public verbal abuse, intentional exclusion. Bullying is understood as a social phenomenon rather than a psychiatric disorder (Lopes Neto, 2005). Studies have shown that bullying has a severe negative impact on academic performance (Webster-Stratton et al 2008), with consequences that may extend into adulthood for both victims and perpetrators (Malta, et al, 2010)

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