Development and Piloting of an Abbreviated Bullying Assessment Tool for Youth with and without Special Education Needs: The Adolescent Risk and Connectedness Survey and Interview (ARC-S and ARC- I)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Bullying has deleterious effects on the health of youth, families, schools, and communities. These effects are especially pronounced for youth with special education needs specific to emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD). Much of what is understood concerning the effects of bullying has been limited to face-to-face contexts. Despite the ubiquity of technology use among youth and the potential for harm, less is known about cyber-bullying. This study sought to investigate the initial use of a newly developed tool, the Adolescent Risk and Connectedness – Survey and Interview (ARC-S and ARCS- I), to investigate experiences with face-to-face bullying and cyber-bullying, alongside risk and protective factors in youth with and without EBD. The ARC is an ecological systems theory-informed survey and interview tool developed to address some limitations of existing assessment approaches. Preliminary data suggest that ARC is an appropriate tool for adolescents with and without EBD as it provides a holistic and contextualized measure of risk and protective factors associated with bullying in school contexts.