Psychometric properties of the Florence CyberBullying-CyberVictimization Scales

The present study tried to answer the research need for empirically validated and theoretically based instruments to assess cyberbullying and cybervictimization. The psychometric properties of the Florence CyberBullying-CyberVictimization Scales (FCBVSs) were analyzed in a sample of 1,142 adolescents (Mage=15.18 years; SD=1.12 years; 54.5% male). For both cybervictimization and cyberbullying, results support a gender invariant model involving 14 items and four factors covering four types of behaviors (written-verbal, visual, impersonation, and exclusion). The second-order confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that a "global," second-order measure of cyberbullying and cybervictimization fits the data well. Overall, the scales showed good validity (construct, concurrent, and convergent) and reliability (internal consistency and test-retest). In addition, using the global key question measure as a criterion, ROC analyses, determining the ability of a test to discriminate between groups, allowed us to identify cutoff points to classify respondents as involved/not involved starting from the continuum measure derived from the scales.