Development And Preliminary Application Of Middle School Student Violent Behavior Scale

Middle school students’violence is a kind of behavior which happened in middle school and its surrounding (within200meters), students (individual or group) used body strength, tools, verbal, non-verbal or other trick deliberately to threat or hurt himself, others and groups, caused the body injury, rights deprivation, growth disorders, reduced quality of life, deteriorated psychological and mental state or even leaded to death, the behavior also increased the difficulty of school management, Destroied school normal teaching order, and even affected social stability.Violent behavior has a serious impact on the individual’s physical and mental health, family harmony and peace, or even destroies the good order of the school and society. Therefore, studying the violent behavior of middle school students, not only can reduce the incidence of violence for middle school students, improve the level of the physical and mental health of middle school students, to ensure that our students healthy growth in a safe environment, also can reduce the spending of justice, department of health and welfare, to promote family harmony, the campus harmony, social stability and sustainable development.In this research, based on document analysis, open-label questionnaire (n=198) and interview results (n=6), the original Middle School Students’ Violent Behavior Scale was designed. In order to collect information from3aspects of committing, suffering and witnessing violence in the meanwhile, anticipants examinees to be3characters (A for offender, B for victim and C for witness) to answer the questions respectively. After three sampling tests, the first predicted sample (n=670) was conducted with item analysis and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the second predicted sample (n=507) was conducted with EFA, and then the formal tested sample (n=1207) was conducted with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Another sample of47middle school students was tested and retested one week later. The intestine emendatory Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) and WHO Life Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ) were used to test its criterion validity. Finally, another1518middle school students were selected to investigate the current characteristics of committing, suffering and winessing violence.The results are as follows:(1) The Middle School Students’Violent Behavior Scale contained two subscales, namely psychological violence (22items) and physical violence (22items). The psychological violent subscale was divided by4factors of personality insult, relationship attack, sexual harassment and right infringement. The physical violent subscale was also divided by4factors of aggression, self-injury, suicide ideation and behavior, heavy violence. The indicators of confirmatory factor analysis with both subscales were in requirements of psychometric. The correlative coefficient of the MSSVBS scores were significantly correlated with BPAQ scores (r=0.33, Ps<0.001) and LEQ scores (r=0.43, Ps<0.001). The Cronbach a coefficients of both subscales were0.82and0.80respectively, the test-retest reliabilities were0.82and0.79respectively.(2) The incidental rate of committing, suffering and witnessing violence by middle school students was in the upper-middle level. Committing violent behavior was at67.3%, suffering violence at73.8%, and witnessing violence was up to89.3%. The incidental rate of middle school students’ psychological violence was higher than physical violence, committing psychological violence was64.0%, physical violence was32.3%. Suffering psychological violence was71.1%, physical violence was26.6%. Witnessing psychological violence was87.4%, physical violence was69.3%. Personality insult was highest, followed by relationship attack, sexual harassment and self-injury were lower, and the lowest two of incidental rate were suicide ideation and behavPior, heavy violence.(3) Middle school boys’ committing, suffering and witnessing psychological violence, and committing, witnessing physical violence were significantly higher than girls’(4) Junior high school students’committing, suffering, witnessing psychological and physical violence were significantly higher than high school students’.(5) Ordinary middle school students’committing psychological violence, committing and suffering physical violence were significantly higher than key middle school.(6) Capital and prefecture-level cities’committing and suffering psychological violence were significantly higher than county town’s. Capital cities’committing and suffering physical violence and were significantly higher than prefecture-level cities’and county town’s. Capital cities’witnessing psychological violence was higher than county town’s, Capital cities’ witnessin physical violence was higher than prefecture-level cities’.Conclusion:It suggests that the Middle School Students’ Violent Behavior Scale could be used as an effective and reliable tool for assessing committing, suffering, and witnessing violent behavior of Chinese middle school students. Middle school boys’violent behavior was more than girls’. Junior high school students’violent behavior was more than high school students’. Ordinary middle school students’violent behavior was more than key middle school. Capital and prefecture-level city students’violent behavior was more than county town’s.