Getting precise and pragmatic about the assessment of bullying: The development of the California Bullying Victimization Scale

Accurate assessment of bullying is essential to intervention planning and evaluation. Limitations to many currently available self‐report measures of bullying victimization include a lack of psychometric information, use of the emotionally laden term “bullying” in definition‐first approaches to self‐report surveys, and not assessing all components of the definition of bullying (chronicity, intentionality, and imbalance of power) in behavioral‐based self‐report methods. To address these limitations, we developed the California Bullying Victimization Scale (CBVS), which is a self‐report scale that measures the three‐part definition of bullying without the use of the term bully. We examined test–retest reliability and the concurrent and predictive validity of the CBVS across students in Grades 5–12 in four central California schools. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing the CBVS with a common, definition‐based bullying victimization measure. Predictive validity was examined through the co‐administration of measures of psychological well‐being. Analysis by grade and gender are included. Results support the test–retest reliability of the CBVS over a 2‐week period. The CBVS was significantly, positively correlated with another bullying assessment and was related in expected directions to measures of well‐being. Implications for differentiating peer victimization and bullying victimization via self‐report measures are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 37:234–247, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.