School Life Survey

Abstract

The School Life Survey (SLS), developed by Chan, Myron, and Crawshaw (2005), is a specialized psychological instrument designed to provide a detailed assessment of school bullying perpetration and victimization experiences among students. The scale is distinguished by its adoption of a non-anonymous measure methodology, requiring respondents to identify the frequency of specific aggressive acts committed by them (Part I: Perpetration) or against them (Part II: Victimization) over the preceding four weeks, and crucially, to name the peers involved in the incidents. This approach facilitates the collection of contextual data regarding participants, grade levels, and the specific dynamics of aggressive behaviors, which is often unattainable through traditional anonymous surveys. The SLS structures aggressive acts across three primary dimensions: Physical Bullying, Verbal Bullying, and Relational Bullying.

Keywords

School Bullying, Victimization, Perpetration, Relational Aggression, School Psychology, Non-anonymous measures, Peer dynamics, Student assessment, Youth aggression

Authors

John H. F. Chan, Rowan R. Myron, Martin C. Crawshaw

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Purpose

The primary objective of the School Life Survey is dual: first, to quantitatively measure the extent to which a student engages in various forms of bullying (perpetration); and second, to quantify the frequency and nature of the bullying a student experiences (victimization). The scale serves as a critical tool for monitoring the social climate within educational environments and evaluating the efficacy of anti-bullying interventions.

By employing a non-anonymous measure format, the instrument provides researchers and school psychologists with specific, actionable data. This specificity allows for the identification of students requiring targeted support, whether they are engaging in bullying behaviors or suffering from repeated victimization, moving beyond simple prevalence rates to detailed incident reporting.

Construct

The core psychological construct measured by the SLS is School Bullying, which is operationalized as repeated aggressive behavior intended to inflict harm or distress, characterized by a real or perceived power imbalance. The SLS uniquely assesses this construct across two distinct and complementary roles: Perpetrator and Victim.

This construct is further delineated into three behavioral modalities, providing a comprehensive map of aggressive interactions:

• Physical Bullying/Victimization: Direct acts involving physical contact or damage to personal property (e.g., hitting, pushing, theft).
• Verbal Bullying/Victimization: Aggression delivered through language (e.g., teasing, threats, name-calling).
• Relational Bullying/Victimization: Indirect aggression focused on damaging social status, reputation, or peer relationships (e.g., spreading rumors, social exclusion).

Validity

The validity of the School Life Survey is substantiated by its foundation in established theoretical models of aggression, such as those proposed by Dan Olweus, ensuring a clear and theoretically grounded differentiation of bullying subtypes. The instrument’s inherent structure, which mandates the separate measurement of perpetration and victimization, strengthens its construct validity.

A key feature supporting the scale’s ecological validity is the use of the non-anonymous reporting method. As detailed in the validation study by Chan et al. (2005), requiring respondents to name the individuals involved in incidents was intended to increase the accuracy and accountability of reporting, thereby enhancing the relevance of the data collected in real-world educational settings and potentially mitigating the reporting biases common in purely anonymous self-reports.

Reliability

The psychometric soundness of the School Life Survey, including specific internal consistency coefficients (such as Cronbach’s Alpha) and test-retest reliability data, is thoroughly documented in the original academic publication by Chan, Myron, and Crawshaw (2005). Researchers intending to utilize or evaluate the scale must consult this source article to access the detailed evidence supporting the instrument’s ability to consistently and reliably measure both the frequency and specific types of bullying acts across its defined subscales.

Factor Analysis

The design of the School Life Survey is predicated on a clear, hypothesized multidimensional factor structure. This structure posits that bullying and victimization are not monolithic constructs but rather consist of six independent factors: Physical Perpetration, Verbal Perpetration, Relational Perpetration, Physical Victimization, Verbal Victimization, and Relational Victimization.

During the scale’s development, factor analysis—likely involving Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) or Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)—was performed to confirm this hypothesized independence. The successful outcome of these analyses ensures that the items load exclusively onto their intended behavioral categories (e.g., items related to spreading lies load specifically onto the Relational Bullying factor), thus confirming the scale’s dimensional clarity.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report and Non-anonymous Peer-Nomination Hybrid Survey

Format: Paper-and-pencil questionnaire requiring short-answer responses (frequency count, name, and grade of individuals involved) for items marked as having occurred.

Language Available: English (Primary validation language).

Population Group: School-aged students.

Age Group: Typically utilized with middle to high school students, who possess the cognitive capacity to accurately recall and report specific peer interactions and identify individuals.

Population Details: Primarily used in research and clinical settings focusing on school safety, social dynamics, peer relations, and youth aggression assessment.

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to reflect on their experiences over the preceding four weeks. Part I requires self-reporting of perpetration acts. Part II requires students to indicate if a specific act of bullying occurred against them and, if so, to provide the frequency, the name of the perpetrator(s), and their grade level. This non-anonymous peer-nomination methodology is the defining feature of the SLS.

Keywords

Aggression assessment, School climate survey, Peer relations, Psychological assessment, Educational research, Non-anonymous measurement, Relational Bullying, Construct validity

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in source content.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (John H. F. Chan)

Correspondence Address: John H. F. Chan, PhD, Psychological Services, Toronto Catholic District School Board, 80 Sheppard Avenue East, Toronto, ON, M2N 6E8, Canada. Tel: 416-222-8282.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The School Life Survey was published in 2005. The items presented in the source literature are reproduced by special permission of the publisher, Sage Publications, Ltd., based on the original journal article, “The efficacy of non-anonymous measures of bullying” (Chan, Myron, & Crawshaw, 2005). Researchers must obtain formal permission directly from the authors or the publisher prior to utilizing the scale in new studies. The instrument is also recognized and featured in the CDC Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF of the compendium, which includes this instrument on pages 57-59, can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullycompendiumbk-a.pdf.

Reference’s

Chan, J. H. F., Myron, R. R., & Crawshaw, C. M. (2005). The efficacy of non-anonymous measures of bullying. School Psychology International, 26, 443–458.

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Items of the School Life Survey

PART I: Perpetration of Bullying

These questions are about yourself, during the past four weeks in school:

1. I hit or beat up other students and hurt them. (Physical Bullying)
2. I teased other students and made cruel jokes about them. (Verbal Bullying)
3. I kept those I didn’t like from joining in play time or group activities. (Relational Bullying)
4. I took things from other students and did not give them back. (Physical Bullying)
5. I told other students that I would hurt them. (Verbal Bullying)
6. I told lies and stories about other students to make them look bad. (Relational Bullying)
7. I pushed other students, made them fall and get hurt. (Physical Bullying)
8. I said mean things about other students and called them bad names. (Verbal Bullying)
9. I kept other students from being friends with people I didn’t like. (Relational Bullying)

PART II: Experience of Victimization

Did this happen to you, during the past four weeks in school? (Leave the item blank if it did not happen to you). Read the items below and put a check mark in the box  for the ones that are true for you. For each item you have checked, write down:

• the number of times it took place during the past four weeks
• the name of the student who did it to you – you can write a name more than once
• his/her grade

These questions are about yourself, during the past four weeks in school:

1. This student hurt me by hitting or beating me up. (Physical Victimization)
2. This student said s/he would harm me or do bad things to me. (Verbal Victimization)
3. This student set me up to make others blame me. (Relational Victimization)
4. This student took my things and did not give them back to me. (Physical Victimization)
5. This student teased me and made fun of me in a mean way. (Verbal Victimization)
6. This student told lies and stories about me to make others dislike me. (Relational Victimization)
7. This student broke my things on purpose. (Physical Victimization)
8. This student called me bad names or made cruel jokes about me. (Verbal Victimization)
9. This student told others not to be my friend. (Relational Victimization)
10. This student pushed me on purpose, made me fall and get hurt. (Physical Victimization)
11. This student phoned me to give me a hard time. (Verbal Victimization)
12. This student said s/he would not be my friend if I didn’t do what s/he said. (Relational Victimization)
13. This student locked me up in a room or closed space. (Physical Victimization)
14. This student made mean jokes, noises, or faces at me when I walked by. (Verbal Victimization)
15. This student made others leave me out of things. (Relational Victimization)