Peer Interactions in Primary School Questionnaire

Abstract

The Peer Interactions in Primary School Questionnaire (PIPS) is a specialized, self-report assessment instrument developed by Thomas Tarshis and Lynne Huffman in 2007. Designed for use with young school-aged populations, the PIPS scale quantifies the frequency and nature of adverse social interactions, specifically focusing on aggressive and isolating behaviors both experienced by and perpetrated by students in the primary school setting. The instrument is foundational for research and clinical intervention aimed at understanding peer conflict dynamics, providing clear quantitative data on the core constructs of Bullying (perpetration) and Victimization (being targeted).

Keywords

Peer interactions, Bullying, Victimization, Primary school, Social aggression, Perpetration, PIPS, School mental health, Child assessment.

Authors

Thomas Tarshis, Lynne Huffman

Purpose

The primary objective of the Peer Interactions in Primary School Questionnaire (PIPS) is to offer a concise, reliable, and valid metric for evaluating a child’s specific involvement in negative peer interactions. Critically, the scale is structured to differentiate between a child’s role as an aggressor (bully) and their role as a target (victim). This empirical separation is essential for developing nuanced, targeted interventions.

The instrument collects self-report data from students regarding their own behaviors related to physical, verbal, and relational aggression. By capturing these self-perceptions across distinct subscales, clinicians, educators, and researchers gain valuable insight into the complex social dynamics within the primary school environment, thereby facilitating effective strategies to improve students’ social-emotional well-being and reduce interpersonal conflict.

Construct

The PIPS questionnaire measures two interrelated, yet empirically distinct, psychological constructs that underpin negative peer interactions: Bullying Perpetration and Victimization. The overall scale comprises 22 items carefully designed to capture the common forms of aggression and social exclusion encountered by children in this age group.

The distinct subscales allow for the measurement of both outward aggressive behavior and inward experiences of being targeted, which is crucial for identifying children who fall into the roles of pure bully, pure victim, or the complex bully-victim category.

• Bullying Subscale (Perpetration): This subscale, consisting of 10 items, assesses behaviors initiated by the respondent. Examples include direct physical aggression (“I push or slap other students”), verbal abuse (“I call other students bad names”), and indirect relational aggression (“I say mean things about a student to make other kids laugh”).
• Victim Subscale (Targeting): This subscale, consisting of 12 items, assesses negative experiences directed toward the respondent by their peers. Items cover physical harm (“I am hit or kicked by other students”), intentional social exclusion (“Other students ignore me on purpose”), and resulting emotional distress (“Other students make me cry”).

Validity

The original validation study conducted by Tarshis and Huffman in 2007 established robust Psychometric properties for the PIPS instrument. The scale demonstrated strong construct validity, primarily through its ability to successfully differentiate between the two intended factors: bullying perpetration and victimization. The factor structure confirmed that items loaded appropriately onto their respective subscales, supporting the theoretical foundation of the instrument.

Furthermore, content validity was ensured by developing items that are highly age-appropriate and reflect developmentally relevant peer conflicts commonly observed in the primary school setting. The PIPS is recognized for its utility in measuring these constructs and has been included in major assessment tool compendiums for youth violence prevention, confirming its criterion-related validity in both clinical and research contexts.

Reliability

The reliability of the PIPS questionnaire was demonstrated through high measures of internal consistency across both the Bully and Victim subscales in the initial validation study. The calculation of high Cronbach’s alpha coefficients provided empirical evidence that the items within each respective subscale measure their intended construct cohesively and consistently.

This high level of reliability ensures that the PIPS questionnaire provides stable and dependable measurement regarding the extent of a child’s involvement, whether as a perpetrator or a target, over a defined period. This consistency is fundamental for tracking behavioral change over time, particularly in intervention studies.

Factor Analysis

The rigorous factor analysis conducted during the scale’s development provided critical confirmation of a clear and robust two-factor structure. These two factors correspond precisely to the theoretical dimensions of Bully (perpetration) and Victim (targeting). The empirical separation of these factors is a significant methodological strength of the PIPS.

The ability to obtain independent scores for both perpetration and victimization is vital for accurate diagnostic and research purposes, as it allows practitioners to distinguish among children who are purely victims, purely aggressors, or those who display dual involvement as bully-victims. This clear factorial structure supports the use of the PIPS subscale scores as independent measures of distinct aspects of peer aggression behavior.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report questionnaire

Format: 22 items utilizing a 3-point Likert scale response format.

Language Available: English (Original development language).

Population Group: Children and adolescents.

Age Group: Primary school age (typically 6–11 years old).

Population Details: Suitable for use with general student populations for screening and assessing involvement in peer conflict dynamics.

Test Methodology: Respondents are asked to rate the frequency of each described behavior. The response categories are assigned the following point values: Never = 0, Sometimes = 1, and A Lot = 2. Total scores are calculated separately for the 12-item Victim subscale and the 10-item Bully subscale.

• Victim Subscale Items: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, and 22.
• Bully Subscale Items: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 21.

Keywords

Peer conflict, Aggression measurement, Developmental pediatrics, Children’s behavior, School psychology, Psychometric assessment, Social behavior, Conflict intervention.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not provided in the source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected] (Thomas Tarshis, MD)

Correspondence Address: Thomas Tarshis, MD, Bay Area Children’s Association, 20380 Town Center Lane, Suite 215, Cupertino, CA 95014.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

Test Year: 2007.

Permissions and Copyright: The PIPS scale is copyrighted as of 2007 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW). Reproduction, adaptation, or use of the instrument is strictly prohibited without obtaining special permission from the publisher, LWW. Researchers and clinicians must contact LWW or the primary author for specific usage permissions and licensing details.

Fee: Licensing and usage fee information is not publicly provided in the source material. Interested parties must contact the publisher (LWW) or the corresponding author for detailed licensing and cost information.

Reference’s

The foundational research detailing the development and validation of the PIPS instrument and its robust psychometric properties is found in the following peer-reviewed publication:

• Tarshis, T. P., & Huffman, L. C. (2007). Psychometric properties of the Peer Interactions in Primary School (PIPS) questionnaire. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 28, 125–132.

The instrument is also officially cataloged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in their comprehensive guide, Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration, and Bystander Experiences: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF compendium can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullycompendiumbk-a.pdf

Items of the Peer Interactions in Primary School Questionnaire

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

1. Other students make me cry
2. I tease other students
3. Other students take things from me that I do not want to give them
4. I push or slap other students
5. Other students look at me in a mean way
6. I tell other students I will hit or hurt them
7. At recess‚ I play by myself
8. I say mean things about a student to make other kids laugh
9. Another student tells me they will hurt me
10. I make other students feel sad on purpose
11. I am hit or kicked by other students
12. I call other students bad names
13. Other students tease me
14. I am mean to other students
15. Other students ignore me on purpose
16. I hit or kick other students
17. Other students make me feel sad
18. I feel bad because I am mean to other students
19. Other students make fun of me
20. I want to stay home from school because students are mean to me
21. I give other students mean or “dirty” looks
22. Other students leave me out of games on purpose