Developing a Typology of Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization in U.S. Adolescents: A Validation Study

The current study used data from the 2011 (N=5,857) and 2013 (N=5,008) administration of the School Crime Supplement (SCS) of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) conducted by National Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Justice Statistics to identify and compare latent class models of bullying and cyberbullying victimization. NCES households were selected using a stratified, multistage cluster sampling design. The SCS was administered to all eligible respondents ages 12-18 within NCVS households. Latent class analysis (LCA) helped identify the latent classes of victimization underlying the two data sets, based on a set of fourteen binary observed indicators measuring bullying and cyberbullying experiences. With both samples, LCA yielded four types of traditional (face-to-face) bullying and cyberbullying victimization: a) non-victims, b) cyber-victims, c) traditional victims, and d) traditional victims and cyber-victims. These results provide valuable insights on the forms of bullying and cyberbullying victimization that are most prevalent in the population of U.S. adolescents. The replication of the latent class model with two independent, nationally representative samples supports the external validity of this typology. Findings from this study help increase awareness of the victimization phenomenon and may facilitate the prevention and early identification of bullying and cyberbullying victimization