Bully/victim roles in primary school children: Self-report or peer-nominations?

The aim of the present work was to compare two different methods –self-report and peer nominations– frequently used to assess bully/victim problems and identify pupils who play a particular role in the class. In a first study, 290 Italian school children (aged between 8 and 11 years) were administered a short self-report questionnaire and the Participant Role Questionnaire (PRQ) (Salmivalli et al., 1996). The comparison between the distribution of roles based on peer nominations and the distribution of roles based on the self-report measure clearly showed a lack of agreement between the two measures. In a second study, the PRQ and the traditional two-item Peer Nomination Questionnaire were compared in a sample of 272 Italian primary school children. Our results confirmed a good level of agreement between the two peer-nomination questionnaires in the assignment of roles. Moreover, the importance of considering Participant Roles other than those of bullies and victims emerged. The practical relevance of the results for school psychologists and educators was discussed.