Evaluating Psychometric Properties of the New Teachers’ Perceptions of Collective Efficacy to Handle Bullying Scale (TCEB)

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 18; no. 21; p. 11424
• Main Authors: Reyes-Rodríguez, Ana Carolina, Valdés-Cuervo, Angel Alberto, Parra-Pérez, Lizeth Guadalupe, García-Vázquez, Fernanda Inéz, Torres-Acuña, Gisela Margarita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 30.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Behavior; Bullying; Calibration; Education; Evaluation; Factorial analysis; Gender; Gender differences; Hypotheses; Perceptions; Quantitative psychology; Statistical analysis; Students; Teachers; Teaching; Validity
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182111424

Collective efficacy is a promising theoretical construct that has been used to explain bullying rates in school. The development of school collective efficacy scales has increased in bullying research in recent years; however, gaps remain in measuring collective efficacy to handle bullying. This research assessed the psychometric properties of a new scale to evaluate collective efficacy against bullying. This first-order one-dimensional scale is called the teachers’ perceptions of collective efficacy to handle bullying (TCEB) scale. A sample of 804 Mexican primary teachers completed questionnaires. The sample was randomly split into two subsamples for calibration (n = 402) and cross-validation analysis (n = 402). The factor structure was supported by confirmatory factorial analysis. Measurement equivalence was confirmed by gender. The latent means differences showed no statistically significant differences by teachers’ gender. The TCEB correlation with school environment factors (e.g., principal support, school climate, and bullying) confirms the scale’s discriminant and concurrent validity. Our findings suggest that TCEB is a suitable instrument to assess teachers’ perceptions of collective efficacy to handle bullying, a construct that has proved to help predict a positive whole-school context and student bullying involvement.