New Survey Approaches to Studying Bullying in Schools: The Development and Validation of an Online School-Wide Bullying Assessment Instrument

Each year, roughly a quarter of children report being victimized by some form of bullying occurring in a school setting. The current study addresses bullying behavior from varied perspectives, including that of the victim, the bystander, and the emerging victim. This study aims to validate a survey that schools can access to make immediate decisions based on local needs to combat bullying. Schools require such tools to make data-based decisions to prevent bullying and respond as warranted. “Student Perceptions of Bullying Survey (SPBS)” is a 27-item skip-logic researcher-developed survey designed to measure the social dynamics of bullying from multiple perspectives. This study describes the development of a publicly available, researcher-developed online survey and data analysis tool, designed to help schools assess and respond to bullying from the students’ perspective in real time. Results indicated that (1) the tool has strong psychometric properties and can be useful in future bullying research, and (2) addressing the multifaceted nature of bullying requires clear local definitions and proactive, whole-school policies.