Development and validation of a self-report measure of cyber-victimization for children and adolescents

Hubbard, Julie A.As technology advances, parents and educators have become increasingly concerned about cyber-victimization among children and adolescents. Unfortunately, current research on cyber-victimization is limited by a lack of comprehensive and psychometrically sound measures of the construct. The goal of the current study was to develop and validate a new self-report measure of cyber-victimization. Participants (184 children and adolescents) recruited from community centers completed the new Cyber-Victimization Scale (CVS) at two time points approximately one month apart. At the same time, participants and center staff completed measures of traditional victimization, depression, anxiety, somatization, withdrawal, social acceptance, and self-esteem. The CVS demonstrated good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Correlations between the CVS and other self-report measures provided strong support for the concurrent and convergent validity of the measure, while correlations between the CVS and staff-report measures provided only moderate support. Future directions are discussed.University of Delaware, Department of PsychologyM.A