The Importance of Context for Multi-informant Assessment of Peer Victimization

Peer victimization has been assessed by using various methods, with little attention to methodological variance. Peer victimization assessments of 238 girls (M age = 9.77 years; 50% Black, 50% White) made by peers, teachers, and self in school, and peers and observers in afterschool playgroups, enabled examination of context and reporter effects on measurement. Results underscored the importance of context: (1) Victimization reported by informants in the same context (i.e., teachers and peers in school setting, and peers and observers in playgroup setting) correlated more strongly than with self-reported victimization. (2) Informant ratings of victimization made within similar contexts (school and afterschool playgroups) showed higher agreement than those made in different contexts (school vs. playgroups) even if the same reporter was used across both contexts (peer report in schools and peer report in playgroups). (3) Teacher-reported victimization was more strongly associated with objective academic outcomes than were peer-, self-, or observer-reported victimization, due to the shared academic context.