Issues in the assessment of bullying: Implications for conceptualizations and future directions

Bullying, a common type of violent behavior in school-aged youth, is traditionally conceptualized as a particular form of repeated peer aggression that is intentional and that involves a power differential between the bully and the victim. Intentionality and power differentials distinguish bullying from general aggression between peers which may lack these characteristics. Despite the fact that nearly every investigation of bullying references this specific definition, studies infrequently constrain their assessment of bullying to ensure that intentionality and power differentials are present. This review (a) argues for why the existing inconsistency in requiring intentionality and power differentials when assessing bullying is a problem for the field, (b) explores challenges in validly ensuring intentionality and power differentials are present when assessing bullying, and (c) puts forward recommendations for more clearly distinguishing between bullying and general peer aggression in future work. •Measures of bullying often do not assess for the aggressor’s intentand power differentials between the aggressor and victim•Inconsistencies in measurement make it difficult to distinguish between the study of bullying versus that of peer aggression•One challenge in assessment is the lack of a “gold standard” for who should report on intentionality and power differentials•Recommendations are made regarding how to better distinguish between bullying and peer aggression