Structural Validity of the HBSC Bullying Measure: Self-Report Rating Scales of Youth Victimization and Perpetration Behavior

Abstract

Bullying involvement among youth has consistently been linked to potentially serious consequences for both perpetrators and victims. To help clarify the nature and scope of youth bullying involvement, empirically validated assessment instruments measuring victimization and perpetration behaviors are needed for use in research and practice. The present study investigated the latent factor structure of the 22 victimization and perpetration items within the 2009-2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) self-report survey. Structural validity analyses were conducted using a representative sample of U.S. youth in Grades 5 to 10 ( N = 11,449) obtained from the national administration of the HBSC self-report survey. Results suggested a two-factor latent structure comprised of bullying victimization and perpetration was the most theoretically and psychometrically sound measurement model for these data. In addition, multigroup measurement and structural invariance analyses showed that this model functioned equitably across student race/ethnicity, sex, and grade level, supporting the measure’s use with diverse student populations.