A measure of attributions for peer victimization: psychometric properties and differences among bullying roles

Attributional processes about why outcomes occur constitute an important mediating mechanism that can explain different reactions of both the targets of harassment and their peers. The present study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of a measure of attributions for victimization among adolescents, using Confirmatory Factor Analyses, and to examine differences among roles (i.e., not involved, bullies, victims, bully-victims) in self-blame attributions, by means of testing invariance. The sample consisted of 1,207 adolescents (54% females; Mage = 14.89; SD = 1.39). The results showed a multidimensional structure of the scale with three factors (Characterological self-blame, Behavioral self-blame, and External Attribution). Partial invariance was found across different roles, highlighting a difference in the latent means of Characterological Self-Blame, higher in the victim group than in the other roles. The findings suggested how victims showed biases in their interpretations of social situations attributing the negative experience to internal, stable, and uncontrollable causes.