Assessing School Victimization in the United States, Guatemala, and Israel: Cross-Cultural Psychometric Analysis of the School Victimization Scale

There is a need for cross-national estimates of school victimization prevalence, yet limited methodological research in this area. The current study evaluates the School Victimization Scale (SVS), administered in the U.S., Guatemala, and Israel (total N = 9,722). SVS measurement equivalence was tested to compare subgroups within each country. Two SVS factors emerged in all countries reflecting higher-severity (weapon-related) and lower-severity (physical/verbal) victimization. Israeli data had poor scalar equivalence; Jewish and Arab students with the same SVS score endorsed different items. Findings illustrate the complexity of cross-national measurement of school victimization and the potential for misleading results when psychometric equivalence is ignored.