Measuring Bullying

Victimization,
Perpetration,
and Bystander
Experiences:
A Compendium of Assessment Tools

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Division of Violence Prevention
Section A: Bully-Only Scales

Description of Measures
Scale/ Characteristics Target Groups Psychometrics Developer
Assessment
A1. Aggression Scale 11-item measure assessing Youth 10–15 years old Cronbach’s alpha: Orpinas & Frankowski,
frequency of self-reported 0.88 to 0.90 2001; Orpinas, Horne, &
perpetration of teasing, Staniszewski, 2003
pushing, or threatening © 2001 Sage Publications
others.
A2. Bullying- 6-item measure to Youth 8–11 years old Cronbach’s alpha: 0.82 Austin & Joseph, 1996
Behavior Scale assess bullying behavior at © 1996 The British
schools. Psychological Society
A3. Children’s Social 15-item measure with 6 Youth 8–14 years old Cronbach’s alpha: Crick & Grotpeter, 1995
Behavior Scale – subscales assessing the © 1995 Wiley-Blackwell
Overt aggression = 0.94
Self Report relative frequency of various Publishing
types of aggressive and Relational aggression = 0.83
prosocial behaviors and Prosocial behavior = 0.91
loneliness.
Loneliness = 0.92

A4. Modified 9-item measure with 2 Youth 10–15 years old Cronbach’s alpha: Bosworth et al., 1999
Aggression Scale subscales assessing bullying
Bullying = 0.83 © 1999 Sage Publications
behavior and anger. Modified
version of the Aggression Anger = 0.70
Scale (A1).

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A1. Aggression Scale

Section A: Bully-Only Scales

Think about what happened DURING THE LAST 7 DAYS, when you answer these questions.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6+
During the last 7 days: times time times times times times times

1. I teased students to make them angry. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

2. I got angry very easily with someone. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

3. I fought back when someone hit me first. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

4. I said things about other kids to make other students laugh. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

5. I encouraged other students to fight. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

6. I pushed or shoved other students. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

7. I was angry most of the day. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

8. I got into a physical fight because I was angry. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

9. I slapped or kicked someone. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

10. I called other students bad names. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

11. I threatened to hurt or to hit someone. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6+

Copyright © 2001 Sage Publications. Reproduced by special permission of the publisher; Sage Publications from: The Aggression Scale: A self-report measure
of aggressive behavior for young adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 21, 50–67 by Pamela Orpinas & Ralph Frankowski.

Scoring Instructions References

Point values are assigned as indicated above. This Orpinas, P., & Frankowski, R. (2001). The
scale is scored by adding responses to all items. Aggression Scale: A self-report measure of
Possible score range is 0 to 66 points. Higher aggressive behavior for young adolescents. Journal
scores indicate a greater frequency of engaging in of Early Adolescence, 21, 50–67.
overt and relational aggression. Orpinas, P., Horne, A. M., & Staniszewski, D. (2003).
If four or more items are missing, the score School bullying: Changing the problem by changing
cannot be computed. If three or fewer items the school. School Psychology Review, 32, 431–444.
are missing, these values are replaced by the
respondent’s average. Developer’s Contact Information
Pamela K. Orpinas, PhD
University of Georgia, School of Health Promotion
and Behavior
319 Ramsey Center
Athens, GA 30602
Tel: 706-542-4370
porpinas@[Link]

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 A2. Bullying-Behavior Scale
Section A: Bully-Only Scales

Really Sort Sort Really

true of true of true true
for me for me for me for me

Some children do not hit and push Other children do hit and push
7   other children about
BUT
other children about
 

Some children often bully other Other children do not bully other
15   children
BUT
children
 

Some children do not laugh at Other children often laugh at

23   other children
BUT
other children
 

Some children often pick on Other children do not pick on

31   other children
BUT
other children
 

Some children often tease other Other children do not tease

39   children
BUT
other children
 

Some children do not call other Other children often call other
47   children horrible names
BUT
children horrible names
 

Copyright © 1996, The British Psychological Society. Reproduced with special permission from the British Journal of Educational Psychology and the British
Psychological Society, St. Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East, Leicester, LE1 7DR, United Kingdom from: Assessment of bully/victim problems in 8–11 year olds by
Sharon Austin and Stephen Joseph. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission from the British Psychological Society.

Scoring Instructions References

Item numbers refer to position inserted on the Self- Austin, S., & Joseph, S. (1996). Assessment of
Perception Profile for Children (SPPC; Harter, 1985). bully/victim problems in 8–11 year-olds.
For each question, respondents indicate which of British Journal of Educational Psychology, 66,
two discordant statements is most like him or her. 447–456.
Then, respondents indicate how true (“really” or
“sort of”) the statement is for him or her. Developer’s Contact Information
Each item is scored 1 (Really True for Me on the Stephen Joseph, PhD
left side) to 4 (Really True for Me on the right side). Centre for Trauma, Resilience, and Growth
Items 15, 31, and 39 are reverse-scored. The scale is University of Nottingham
scored by computing the mean item score (i.e., sum Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
of the items / 6). The scale has a range of 1 to 4. Tel: +44 115 951 5410
Higher scores indicate greater bullying behavior. [Link]@[Link]

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 Section A: Bully-Only Scales
A3. Children’s Social Behavior Scale – Self Report
Instruction to Respondents
We are interested in how kids get along with one another. Please think about your relationship with
other kids and how often you do these things while you’re with them.
Sample Items Response Alternatives
Never, Almost Never, Sometimes, Almost All of the
Relational Aggression
Time, All of the Time
1. Some kids tell lies about classmates so that the
other kids won’t like the classmates anymore. Scoring Instructions
How often do you do this? Item numbers refer to position inserted on the
10. Some kids tell their friends that they will stop Children’s Social Behavior Scale – Self Report
liking them unless the friends do what they say. (CSBS-S). Scores on individual items on each
How often do you tell friends this? subscale are summed and then compared across
the sample.
Overt Aggression
References
5. Some kids hit other kids at school. How often do
you do this? Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1995). Relational
aggression, gender, and social psychological
8. Some kids yell at others and call them mean
adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710–722.
names. How often do you do this?
Developer’s Contact Information
Prosocial Behavior
Nicki Crick, PhD
3. Some kids try to cheer up other kids who feel Institute of Child Development
upset or sad. How often do you do this? University of Minnesota – Twin Cities
7. Some kids help out other kids when they need 51 East River Rd.
it. How often do you do this? Minneapolis, MN 55455
Tel: 612-625-8879
Loneliness Crick001@[Link]
5. Some kids wish that they had more friends at
school. How often do you feel this way?

Copyright © 2005 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. Reproduced by special permission of the publisher, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, PO Box 805, 9600 Garsington Road,
Oxford OX4 2ZG, UK, from: Relational Aggression, Gender, and Social-Psychological Adjustment by Nicki R. Crick & Jennifer K. Grotpeter. Further reproduction is
prohibited without permission from Wiley-Blackwell Publishing. Visit [Link]/bw/[Link]?ref=0009-3920 for additional information.
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 A4. Modified Aggression Scale
Section A: Bully-Only Scales

Choose how many times you did this activity or task in the last 30 days. In the last 30 days...

5 or
1 or 2 3 or 4
Never more
times times
times

Bullying

1. I pushed, shoved, slapped, or kicked other students.

2. I called other students names.

3. I said things about other students to make other students laugh.

4. I teased other students.

5. I threatened to hit or hurt another student.

Anger

6. I was angry most of the day.

7. I was grouchy or irritable, or in a bad mood, so even little things

made me mad.

Never Seldom Sometimes Often Always

8. I frequently got angry.

9. I took my anger out on an innocent person.

Copyright © 1999 Sage Publications. Reproduced by special permission of the publisher, Sage Publications from: Factors associated with bullying
behavior in middle school students. Journal of Early Adolescence, 19, 341–362 by Kris Bosworth, Dorothy L. Espelage, & Thomas R. Simon.

Scoring Instructions
Point values are assigned as follows:
Never = 0 Never = 0
1 or 2 times = 1 Seldom = 1
3 or 4 times = 2 Sometimes = 2
5 or more times = 3 Often = 3
Always = 4
Scores on the Bullying subscale are computed by summing across subscale items. This subscale has a
possible range of 0 to 15. Because the response options for the Anger subscale are dissimilar across items,
individual item scores are converted to z scores and summing across z scores. High scores indicate more
bullying behavior and anger.
References
Bosworth, K., Espelage, D. L., & Simon, T. R. (1999). Factors associated with bullying behavior in
middle school students. Journal of Early Adolescence, 19, 341–362.

Developer’s Contact Information

Kris Bosworth, PhD
College of Education
The University of Arizona
PO Box 210069
Tucson, AZ 85721
Tel: 520-626-4350
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boswortk@[Link]