Bullying scale for adolescents and main results

Abstract

The Peer Aggression (Bullying) Scale was translated, adapted, factor-analyzed, and validated on a sample of 607 adolescents from a middle school in Montevideo, Uruguay. After reviewing the phenomenon of peer aggression and the context in which this instrument was developed, the scale structure, which is comprised of four subscales, and its validation are described. Two subscales are associated with risk factors: the Outside Influence subscale (with two components, Norm-breaking Friends and Adult Attitudes toward Violence) and the Personal Attitude Toward Violence subscale (with two components, Facilitating Attitudes and Lack of Aggression-management Ability). The Prosocial Behavior subscale broadens the evaluation of peer aggression by sampling positive behavior. The Aggressive Behaviors subscale has three components: Fighting, Bullying, and Teasing. The psychometric properties of the four subscales are satisfactory. The main results are further analyzed by gender and age, on which significant differences consistent with the literature on peer aggression emerged.