The Impact of Validity Screening on Associations Between Self-Reports of Bullying Victimization and Student Outcomes

• In Event: 68.062 - Poster Session 15
  In Poster Session: 68.062-3 - Poster Session: Innovations on Diverse Methodological Approaches

Abstract

Research suggests that some adolescents provide intentionally inaccurate or careless responses that can seriously distort survey results. The use of validity screening items is one approach that holds promise for the identification of invalid respondents. The current study extends prior research on the use of validity items through examination of statewide school climate survey data obtained from 52,012 adolescents sampled from 323 high schools. A comparison of results that would be obtained with and without validity screening indicated that failure to screen out invalid responders significantly affected sample means, prevalence rates of student adjustment, and associations among the examined substantive variables of bullying victimization and student outcomes. These findings support the need to screen for invalid responders in adolescent samples.

Authors

• Yuane Jia, Rutgers University

• Timothy R. Konold, University of Virginia

• Dewey G. Cornell, University of Virginia

• Francis Howard Lim Huang, University of Missouri