Overt and Relational Victimization in Latinos and European Americans: Measurement Equivalence Across Ethnicity,Gender,and Grade Level in Early Adolescent Groups
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online February, 2010
Overt and Relational Victimization in Latinos and European Americans: Measurement Equivalence Across Ethnicity,Gender,and Grade Level in Early Adolescent Groups
This study examined the factorial invariance and construct validity equivalence of a self-report of victimization and exclusion (SVEX) for Latino and European American early adolescent participants (fifth and sixth grades; mean age 11.3).The instrument included an expanded set of relational victimization items that more thoroughly tapped exclusion behaviors relevant to developmental and cross-cultural use. Confirmatory factor analyses techniques demonstrated acceptable (partial) factorial invariance across ethnic groups, fifth and sixth graders, and across gender. Linkages between the SVEX scores, peer nominations, internalizing indices, and three demographic variables also supported construct validity equivalence for the SVEX. Findings supported a two-factor model similar to that of Crick and colleagues (e.g., Crick & Grotpeter, 1995) and suggested that the instrument provided an acceptable level of equivalence for overt and relational victimization forms across these groups.
Akaike, H. ( 1987). Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika , 52, 317-332.
2.
Bellmore, A., Nishina, A., Witkow, M., Graham, S., & Juvonen, J. ( 2007). The influence of classroom ethnic composition on same- and other-ethnicity peer nominations in middle school. Social Development, 16, 720-740
3.
Boivin, M., & Hymel, S. ( 1997). Peer experiences and social self-perceptions: A sequential model. Developmental Psychology, 33, 135-145.
4.
Brown, B., Mory, M., & Kinney, D. ( 1994). Casting adolescent crowds in a relational perspective: Caricature, channel, and context. In R. Montemayor , G. Adams, & T. P. Gullotta (Eds.), Personal relationships during adolescence (pp. 123-167). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
5.
Brown, T.A. ( 2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York: Guilford.
6.
Browne, M.W., & Cudeck, R. ( 1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
7.
Buhs, E. ( 2005). Peer rejection, negative peer treatment, and school adjustment: Self-concept and classroom engagement as mediating processes. Journal of School Psychology, 43, 407-424.
8.
Buhs, E., Ladd, G., & Herald, S. ( 2006). Peer exclusion and victimization: Processes that mediate the relation between peer group rejection and children’s classroom engagement and achievement? Journal of Educational Psychology, 98, 1-13.
9.
Bukowski, W., & Sippola, L. ( 2001). Groups, individuals, and victimization: A view of the peer system. J. Jovonen & S. Graham (Eds.), Peer harassment in school: The plight of the vulnerable and victimized (pp. 355-377). New York: Guilford Press.
10.
Byrne, B.M., Shavelson, R.J., & Muthén, B. (1989). Testing for equivalence of factor covariance and mean structures: The issue of partial measurement invariance. Psychological Bulletin, 105, 456-466.
11.
Coie, J., Terry, R., Lenox, K., Lochman, J., & Hyman, C. ( 1995). Childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of stable patterns of adolescent disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 697-713.
12.
Collins, W., & Steinberg, L. ( 2006). Adolescent development in interpersonal context. In N. Eisenberg, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3, Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 1003-1067). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
13.
Crick, N. ( 1995). Relational aggression: The role of intent attributions, feelings of distress, and provocation type. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 313-322.
14.
Crick, N., & Bigbee, M.A. ( 1998). Relational and overt forms of peer victimization: A multi informant approach. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology , 66, 337-347.
15.
Crick, N., & Grotpeter, J. ( 1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development, 66, 710-722.
16.
Crick, N., & Grotpeter, J. ( 1996). Children’s treatment by peers: Victims of relational and overt aggression. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 367-380.
17.
Crick, N.R., Werner, N.E., Casas, J.F., O’Brien, K.M., Nelson, D.A., Grotpeter, J.K., et al. (1999). Childhood aggression and gender: A new look at an old problem. In D. Bernstein (Ed.), 45th Annual Symposium on Motivation: Gender and motivation (pp. 75-141). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
18.
Crockett, L., Randall, B., Shen, Y., Russell, S., & Driscoll, A. ( 2005). Measurement equivalence of the center for epidemiological studies depression scale for latino and anglo adolescents: A national study . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 47-58.
19.
Cuéllar, I., Arnold, B., & González, G. (1995). Cognitive referents of acculturation: Assessment of cultural constructs in Mexican Americans. Journal of Community Psychology, 23, 339-356.
20.
Dill, E., Vernberg, E., Fonagy, P., Twemlow, S., & Gamm, B. ( 2004). Negative affect in victimized children: The roles of social withdrawal, peer rejection, and attitudes toward bullying. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 159-173.
21.
Galen, B.R., & Underwood, M.K. (1997). A developmental investigation of social aggression among children. Developmental Psychology , 33, 589-600.
22.
Gouveia, L., Carranza, M.A., & Cogua, J. ( 2005). The Great Plains migration: Mexicanos and Latinos in Nebraska. In V. Zuniga & R. Hernandez-Leon (Eds.), New destinations-Mexican immigration in the United States (pp. 23-49). New York: Sage Foundation.
23.
Graham, S. ( 2006). Peer victimization in school: Exploring the ethnic context . Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 317-321.
24.
Graham, S., Taylor, A.Z., & Ho, A.Y. ( 2009). Race and ethnicity in peer relations research. In K. H. Rubin, W. M. Bukowski, & B. Laursen (Eds.), Handbook of peer interactions, relationships, and groups (pp. 394-413). New York: Guilford Press.
25.
Gregorich, S.E. ( 2006). Do self-report instruments allow meaningful comparisons across diverse population groups? Testing measurement invariance using the confirmatory factor analyses framework. Medical Care, 44, 78-94.
26.
Hawker, D., & Boulton, M. ( 2000). Twenty years’ research on peer victimization and psychosocial maladjustment: A meta-analytic review of cross-sectional studies . Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 41, 441-455.
27.
Hodges, E., & Perry, D. ( 1999). Personal and interpersonal antecedents and consequences of victimization by peers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 677-685.
28.
Hoglund, W. ( 2007). School functioning in early adolescence: Gender-linked responses to peer victimization. Journal of Educational Psychology , 99, 683-699.
29.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P.M. ( 1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1-55.
30.
Kline, R.B. ( 1998). Principals and practice of structural equation modeling . New York: Guilford.
31.
Knight, G., & Kagan, S. ( 1977). Development of prosocial and competitive behaviors in Anglo-American and Mexican-American children. Child Development , 48, 1385-1394
32.
Knight, G.P., & Hill, N.E. ( 1998). Measurement equivalence in research involving minority adolescents. In V. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological and theoretical issues (pp. 183-210). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
33.
Knight, G.P., Tein, J.-Y., Prost, J.H., & Gonzales, N.A. (2002). Measurement equivalence and research on Latino children and families: The importance of culturally informed theory. In J. Contreras, K. Kears, & A. Neal-Barnett (Eds.), Latino children and families in the United States: Current research and future directions (pp. 181-201). Westport, CN : Praeger.
34.
Ladd, G., & Kochenderfer-Ladd, B. (2002). Identifying victims of peer aggression from early to middle childhood: Analysis of cross-informant data for concordance, estimation of relational adjustment, prevalence of victimization, and characteristics of identified victims. Psychological Assessment , 14, 74-96.
35.
Leyendecker, B., & Lamb, M. ( 1999). Latino families. In M. Lamb (Ed.), Parenting and child development in "nontraditional" families (pp. 247-262). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum .
36.
Little, T. ( 1997). Mean and covariance structures (MACS) analyses of cross-cultural data: Practical and theoretical issues. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 32, 53-76.
37.
Loeber, R., & Hay, D.F. ( 1997). Key issues in the development of aggression and violence from childhood to early adulthood. Annual Review of Psychology , 48, 371-410.
38.
Long, J., & Pellegrini, A. (2003). Studying change in dominance and bullying with linear mixed models. School Psychology Review , 32, 401-417.
39.
Maccoby, E. ( 1998). The two sexes: Growing up apart, coming together. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press/ Harvard University Press.
March, J., & Parker, J. ( 2004). The Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC) . In M. E. Maruish (Ed.), The use of psychological testing for treatment planning and outcomes assessment: Vol. 2: Instruments for children and adolescents (3rd ed., pp. 39-62). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum .
42.
Marín, G., & Marín, B. (1991). Research with Hispanic populations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
43.
Medsker, G.J., Williams, L.J., & Holahan, P.J. ( 1994). A review of current practices for evaluating causal-models in organizational-behavior and human-resources management research. Journal of Management, 20, 439-464.
44.
Messick, S. ( 1995). Validity of psychological assessment: Validation of inferences from persons’ responses and performances as scientific inquiry into score meaning. American Psychologist, 50, 741-749.
45.
Millsap, R.E., & Kwok, O-M. ( 2004). Evaluating the impact of partial factorial invariance on selection in two populations. Psychological Methods, 9, 93-115.
46.
Muthén, L.K., & Muthén, B.O. (2004). Mplus for Windows (Version 4.21) [Computer software]. Los Angeles: Authors.
47.
Mynard, H., & Joseph, S. ( 2000). Development of the multidimensional peer-victimization scale. Aggressive Behavior, 26, 169-178.
48.
Nansel, T., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R., Ruan, W., Simons-Morton, B., & Scheidt, P. ( 2001). Bullying behaviors among US youth: Prevalence and association with psychosocial adjustment. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285, 2094-2100.
49.
Nishina, A., & Juvonen, J. ( 2005). Daily reports of witnessing and experiencing peer harassment in middle school. Child Development, 76, 435-450.
50.
Olweus, D. ( 1994). Annotation: Bullying at school: Basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 1171-1190.
51.
Pellegrini, A., & Bartini, M. ( 2000). An empirical comparison of methods of sampling aggression and victimization in school settings. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 360-366.
52.
Peña, E. ( 2007). Lost in translation: Methodological considerations in cross-cultural research. Child Development, 78, 1255-1264.
53.
Radloff, L. ( 1991). The use of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in adolescents and young adults. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 20, 149-166.
54.
Rubin, K.H., Bukowski, W.M., & Parker, J.G. ( 2006). Peer interactions, relationships, and groups. In N. Eisenberg, W. Damon, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of Child Psychology: Vol. 3, Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 571-645). Hoboken, NJ : Wiley.
55.
Sandstrom, M., & Cillessen, A. ( 2003). Sociometric status and children’s peer experiences: Use of the daily diary method. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 49, 427-452.
56.
Satorra, A., & Bentler, P.M. ( 1988). Scaling corrections for chi-square statistics in covariance structure analysis. Proceedings of the American Statistical Association, 308-313.
57.
Schwartz, D., Gorman, A., Nakamoto, J., & Toblin, R. ( 2005). Victimization in the peer group and children’s academic functioning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 425-435.
58.
Schwartz, S.J., Zamboanga, B.L., & Jarvis, L.H. ( 2007). Ethnic identity and acculturation in Hispanic early adolescents: Mediated relationships to academic grades, prosocial behaviors, and externalizing symptoms. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology , 13, 364-373.
59.
Schwarz, G.E. ( 1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. Annals of Statistics, 6, 461-464.
60.
Storch, E., Crisp, H., Roberti, J., Bagner, D., & Masia-Warner, C. (2005). Psychometric evaluation of the social experience questionnaire in adolescents: Descriptive data, reliability, and factorial validity. Child Psychiatry & Human Development , 36, 167-176.
61.
Underwood, M. ( 2003). Social aggression among girls. New York: Guilford Press.
62.
Underwood, M., Scott, B., Galperin, M., Bjornstad, G., & Sexton, A. ( 2004). An observational study of social exclusion under varied conditions: Gender and developmental differences. Child Development , 75, 1538-1555.
63.
Vaillancourt, T., Brendgen, M., Boivin, M., & Tremblay, R. ( 2003). Longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis of indirect and physical aggression: Evidence of two factors over time? Child Development, 74, 1628-1638.
64.
Weston, R., & Gore, P.A. ( 2006). A brief guide to structural equation modeling. The Counseling Psychologist, 34, 719-751.
65.
Widaman, K.F., & Reise, S.P. ( 1997). Exploring the measurement invariance of psychological instruments: Applicants in the substance use domain. In K. J. Bryant, M. Windle & S. G. West (Eds.), The science of prevention: Methodological advances from alcohol and substance abuse research (pp. 281-324). Washington, DC: APA.
