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Title: School bonding in early adolescents: Psychometrics of the brief survey of school bonding

Author
item WHITESIDE-MANSELL, LEANNE - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item WEBER, JUDITH - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item MOORE, PAGE - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item JOHNSON, DANYA - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item WILLIAMS, EDWARD - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item WARD, WENDY - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item ROBBINS, JAMES - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item PHILLIPS, ALISON - University Of Alabama

Submitted to: The Journal of Early Adolescence
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/30/2014
Publication Date: 1/16/2015
Citation: Whiteside-Mansell, L., Weber, J.L., Moore, P., Johnson, D., Williams, E.R., Ward, W., Robbins, J.M., Phillips, A.B. 2015. School bonding in early adolescents: Psychometrics of the brief survey of school bonding. The Journal of Early Adolescence. 35(2):245-275.

Interpretive Summary: The assessment of a school bonding or engagement has continued to gain attention as schools struggle with poor academic achievement, attendance problems, delinquency, and students dropping out. During early adolescence, the degree to which a student is engaged, bonded, and involved in school is an important factor in protecting against health-risk behaviors and increasing educational achievement. Because of the role of school bonding as a possible target for nutritional/physical activity intervention programs and school initiatives, a psychometrically sound assessment of school bonding is critical. Over 30 existing assessment tools were reviewed, and some were identified as useful; however, they were too burdensome in length. A shorter survey was developed and tested. As a result the Brief Survey of School Bonding is appropriate for use with children.

Technical Abstract: The comprehensive assessment of middle school student bonding is important for basic research and to evaluate interventions. Of over 30 tools reviewed, this study examined the psychometric properties of three that together assessed the four constructs identified by Hirschi as key elements. With some modification, the tools were found to be useful psychometrically; however, they were still too burdensome in length. This led to the development of a shorter survey. The development included a cyclical process in which multiple samples of students (N = 53, 1911, 2050) were surveyed. The surveys were combined, redundancy eliminated, and psychometric properties examined. The resulting survey, the Brief Survey of School Bonding, is appropriate for use with children 10 to 15 years of age.