Victimization—Problem Behavior Frequency Scale

Abstract

The Victimization—Problem Behavior Frequency Scale is a concise, 12-item self-report instrument designed for use with youth and adolescents. Its core function is to systematically measure the frequency of exposure to two distinct modalities of peer-related victimization—Overt Victimization and Relational Victimization—over the preceding 30 days. This scale provides critical data for researchers and clinicians seeking to understand the prevalence of direct physical and verbal harm, alongside subtle forms of social aggression, within school environments.

Developed in connection with the Multisite Violence Prevention Project (2004), the scale is vital for identifying individuals at risk for developing subsequent problem behaviors, such as delinquency or antisocial tendencies, often associated with experiencing persistent bullying. By utilizing a 6-point frequency scale, the instrument allows for precise quantification of negative peer interactions, aiding in the design and evaluation of targeted prevention and intervention programs.

Keywords

Victimization, Peer Aggression, Relational Victimization, Overt Victimization, Bullying, Delinquency, Antisocial Behavior, Youth Assessment, Self-Report Scale, Violence Prevention.

Authors

The conceptual framework and scale items are primarily associated with the Multisite Violence Prevention Project (2004). Key researchers whose work provided the empirical foundation include Nicki R. Crick, Martha A. Bigbee, Pamela Orpinas, and Robert Frankowski.

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Purpose

The primary purpose of the Victimization—Problem Behavior Frequency Scale is to provide a standardized, time-sensitive measure of the extent to which young people are subjected to harmful peer behaviors. By focusing on a recent 30-day recall period, the instrument captures current exposure levels, offering timely and actionable data crucial for immediate intervention strategies in school and community settings.

This measure is widely employed in large-scale epidemiological studies, particularly those concerning violence prevention initiatives and school climate assessments. It is specifically designed to investigate the longitudinal relationship between early exposure to peer victimization during adolescence and the subsequent manifestation of internalizing symptoms or externalizing problem behaviors, such as aggression or delinquency.

Construct

The scale operationalizes the multidimensional psychological construct of Peer Victimization. This construct is empirically partitioned into two distinct, yet related, subscales based on the modality through which the aggressive behavior is delivered: Relational Victimization and Overt Victimization. This differentiation is critical because these two forms of aggression are theorized to arise from different social dynamics and lead to distinct psychological and behavioral outcomes for the victim.

Relational Victimization encompasses acts designed to damage the victim’s social standing, reputation, or existing peer relationships. Examples include social exclusion, spreading malicious gossip, or manipulative behaviors intended to isolate the individual. In contrast, Overt Victimization measures direct, observable acts of harm. This includes physical aggression (e.g., hitting or shoving) and direct verbal abuse (e.g., name-calling, threats of violence, or physical intimidation).

Validity

Although psychometric validation data for the combined scale often reside within comprehensive reports from the Multisite Violence Prevention Project, its foundational validity is robustly supported by the established literature concerning relational and overt aggression. The scale demonstrates strong evidence of Construct Validity, primarily derived from confirmatory factor analyses performed on similar measures (Crick & Bigbee, 1998), which consistently confirm the empirical separability of the relational and overt factors.

Furthermore, the scale exhibits sound Criterion Validity. Scores derived from both the Relational Victimization and Overt Victimization subscales have been shown to correlate significantly and meaningfully with external measures. These external criteria include self-reported problematic behaviors, heightened internalizing symptoms (such as anxiety and depression), and unfavorable adjustment ratings provided by teachers, confirming its utility in predicting relevant outcomes in youth.

Reliability

The reliability of the scale components is consistently reported as high, aligning with the psychometric standards established by instruments based on the Crick and Bigbee theoretical framework. Studies administering these specific victimization items to adolescent populations typically report acceptable to strong levels of internal consistency, typically quantified using Cronbach’s Alpha, for both the Relational Victimization and Overt Victimization subscales.

The standardized methodology, which mandates a consistent 30-day recall window, contributes positively to the temporal stability of the measure. This short recall period ensures that respondents are reporting on recent, salient experiences, thereby enhancing the reliability of the derived frequency scores over time and across different cohorts of adolescence.

Factor Analysis

The theoretical and empirical structure of the scale is defined by a robust two-factor model, corresponding precisely to the two primary subscales. Extensive factor analytic research focused on the structure of peer aggression and victimization (e.g., Crick & Bigbee, 1998) consistently supports the clear differentiation of the items into two distinct factors.

One factor captures direct, observable physical or verbal harm (Overt Victimization), while the second factor encapsulates social manipulation and deliberate exclusion (Relational Victimization). This empirical confirmation validates the necessary analytical approach: treating relational and overt experiences as related but fundamentally separable constructs, which reflect different risk pathways and mechanisms underlying subsequent maladjustment or development of problem behaviors.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report frequency measure

Format: 12 Likert-type frequency items, distributed across two subscales (Relational and Overt).

Language Available: English (Primary).

Population Group: School-aged youth and adolescents.

Age Group: Typically utilized with early to middle adolescents (ages 10–14).

Population Details: Primarily used in cohort-wide student surveys within violence prevention research and standardized school settings.

Test Methodology: Respondents are instructed to indicate the number of times they experienced each specific behavior in the last 30 days. Scoring utilizes a 6-point ordinal frequency scale, ranging from 1 (Never) to 6 (20 or more times). Subscale scores are calculated by summing the point values of the respective items, where higher total scores denote a greater reported frequency of Relational Victimization or Overt Victimization.

Keywords

Peer relations, School violence, Social aggression, Physical aggression, Youth risk behavior, Psychological assessment, Frequency scale, Problem behaviors, Violence prevention research.

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source material.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source material.

Correspondence Address: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, GA (for the Multisite Violence Prevention Project materials).

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale was formally documented and disseminated in 2004 by the Multisite Violence Prevention Project as part of a comprehensive compendium of research assessment tools. The instrument is generally considered part of the public domain resources provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is available for research purposes without licensing fees.

The original PDF compendium containing this instrument (specifically on pages 265-266) is available online. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

Reference’s

• Multisite Violence Prevention Project. Description of measures: cohort-wide student survey, 2004. Available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, GA.

• Crick NR, Bigbee MA. Relational and overt forms of peer victimization: a multi-informant approach. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1998;66:337-347.

• Orpinas P, Frankowski R. The aggression scale: a self-report measure of aggressive behavior for young adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence 2001;21(1):51-68.

• Sullivan TN, Esposito L, Farrell AD. Relation between overt and relational victimization and problem behaviors in adolescence. Paper presented at the annual conference for the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Boston, MA, 2003.

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Items of the Victimization—Problem Behavior Frequency Scale

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

In the last 30 days‚ how many times have you …

Relational Victimization

1. Had a kid say they won’t like you unless you do what he/she wanted you to do?
2. Had someone spread a false rumor about you?
3. Been left out on purpose by other kids when it was time to do an activity?
4. Had a kid try to keep others from liking you by saying mean things about you?
5. Had a kid tell lies about you to make other kids not like you anymore?
6. Had a kid who is mad at you try to get back at you by not letting you be in their group anymore?

Overt Victimization

7. Been hit by another kid?
8. Been pushed or shoved by another kid?
9. Been yelled at or called mean names by another kid?
10. Another student threatened to hit or physically harm you?
11. Been threatened or injured by someone with a weapon (gun‚ knife‚ club‚ etc.)?
12. Had a student asked you to fight?

Scoring Protocol:

• Never = 1
• 1-2 times = 2
• 3-5 times = 3
• 6-9 times = 4
• 10-19 times = 5
• 20 or more times = 6

Point values for each subscale are summed. High scores indicate higher levels of victimization.