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Validation of the Actually Received Support Scale for Chinese Adolescents Experiencing School Bullying

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Abstract

Although social support has been recognized as an important resource for coping with bullying, there is a lack of valid and reliable tools for assessing the social support received by victims of school bullying in China. This study aimed to translate the Actually Received Support scale from the Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS-RS) and adapt it for the Chinese context. Three hundred and seventy-eight Chinese students (Grades 4 to 9) in Hebei Province who had experienced school bullying in the past six months were recruited. The psychometric properties of the Chinese BSSS-RS in terms of factorial validity, reliability, and convergent validity were examined from three sources (family, friend/classmate, and teacher). Confirmatory factor analyses found a better fit for the three-factor model than the one-factor and two-factor models. The three-factor model had an acceptable fit with the data on support from a family member and a friend or classmate, but not for the data on support from a teacher. Satisfactory internal consistency and test–retest reliability were found for the emotional (six items), instrumental (three items), and informational (two items) types of received support. The convergent validity of the factors was also confirmed against validating variables. The findings support the BSSS-RS as a reliable and valid measurement tool for the actual support received by bullied adolescents from a family member and friend or classmate. Future use is recommended to better understand the role of social support in the context of school bullying.

Highlights

  • The Chinese BSSS-RS was examined for use among Chinese adolescents affected by school bullying.

  • The factorial validity, reliability, and convergent validity of the BSSS-RS were examined.

  • Three factors were confirmed, representing emotional, instrumental, and informational types of support.

  • The BSSS-RS is a reliable and valid tool for measuring actually received support from a family member and a friend or classmate.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Ms. Janet Lee, Ms. Temmy Lo, Ms. Anne Wong, Ms. Manman Peng and Ms. Zihong Deng for their help with the translation procedures, the school personnel for their assistance with data collection, and the students for their participation in this study.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to the study design. Material preparation and data collection were performed by J.L.X. Data analysis was performed by T.C.T. and J.L.X. The first draft of the manuscript was written by J.LX. R.T.H. and T.C.T. commented on previous versions of the paper and revised the paper. All authors read and approved the final paper.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Jianli Xing & Rainbow T. H. Ho

  2. Centre on Behavioral Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Ted C. T. Fong & Rainbow T. H. Ho

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  1. Jianli Xing
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Correspondence to Rainbow T. H. Ho.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Human Research Ethics Committee of The University of Hong Kong.

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Xing, J., Fong, T.C.T. & Ho, R.T.H. Validation of the Actually Received Support Scale for Chinese Adolescents Experiencing School Bullying. J Child Fam Stud 30, 1712–1721 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-01976-6

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