DATA

POINT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

NCES 2018-093 MARCH 2018

Repetition and 

Power Imbalance in 

Bullying Victimization 

at School

For the 2014–2015 school year, 20.8 percent of students 

reported being bullied at school (data not shown in figures).1

This report examines these students’ experiences of 

bullying by repetition and power imbalance, two 

components of the Center for Disease Control and 

Prevention’s (CDC) uniform definition of bullying2; and 

reviews the association of these components with students’ 

school work, relationships, physical health, and feelings 

about themselves.

The School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime 

Victimization Survey (NCVS) is a nationally representative 

sample survey of students ages 12 to 18. The SCS asks 

students whether they were bullied in the school building, 

on school property, on the school bus, or going to or from 

school. Specifically, it asks if they were made fun of, called 

names or insulted; if they were the subject of rumors or 

excluded from activities on purpose; if they suffered from 

physical attacks or had their property destroyed; or if they 

were threatened with any of the above. The SCS also asks 

students if bullying has had a negative effect on their school 

work, relationships with friends or family, how they feel 

about themselves, and physical health. For 2015, the SCS3

was updated to include measures of repetition and power 

imbalance, asking students who reported bullying at school 

if it at any time the bullying:

• Happened over and over or if they were afraid it would 

happen over and over (repetition).

• Was by someone who had more power or strength 

(power imbalance). For example: the person was 

bigger, more popular, had more money, or had more 

power in another way.

A greater proportion of middle school students who 

reported being bullied said the bullying included both 

repetition and power imbalance than students reporting 

being bullied in 9th and 12th grade (figure 1). 

• In 2015, 21.7 percent of all students who reported 

being bullied in any way (or 4.5 percent of all students) 

reported bullying that met the uniform definition 

(included repetition and power imbalance).

FIGURE 1. Among students who reported being bullied at 

school, percentage who reported additional bullying 

components by grade: School year 2014–15

‡ Reporting standards not met. The standard error for this estimate is equal to 50 

percent or more of the estimate’s value.

NOTE: The School Crime Supplement sample includes students ages 12–18 and, 

therefore, might not be representative of students in 6th grade. Comparisons between 

students in 6th grade and those in other grades should be made with caution. Data 

include only students who reported being enrolled in grades 6 through 12 and not 

receiving any of their education through homeschooling during the school year 

reported. “Bullied” includes students who reported being made fun of, called names, or 

insulted; being the subject of rumors; being threatened with harm; being pushed, 

shoved, tripped, or spit on; being pressured into doing things they did not want to do; 

being excluded from activities on purpose; and having property destroyed on purpose. 

“At school” includes the school building, school property, school bus, or going to and 

from school. "Repetition" includes bullying happening over and over, or being afraid it 

happening over and over. "Power Imbalance" includes bullying by someone who had 

more power or strength (e.g., someone bigger, more popular, with more money, or 

more power in any other way). Detail may not sum to 100 because of rounding. Tabular 

data for percentages and their standard errors are available at http://nces.ed.gov/

programs/crime/crime_tables.asp. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime 

Supplement (SCS - Version 1) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), 

2015. The 2015 SCS questionnaire was administered in two alternate versions. Only 

respondents completing Version 1 of the survey are included in these estimates. A 

complete discussion of the split-half methodology and results can be found at https://

nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2017004.

Data in this report are from version 1 of the 2015 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime 

Victimization Survey, a nationally representative sample survey of students ages 12 through 18. To 

learn more about the survey, visit: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crime. For questions about content or 

to download additional copies, go to: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.
Repetition and Power Imbalance in Bullying Victimization at School

• Among students reporting being bullied in any way,

approximately one-third of 6th graders (32.0 percent),

7

th graders (29.2 percent), and 8th graders (29.3

percent) reported bullying that met the uniform

definition, greater percentages than 9th graders (15.9

percent) and 12th graders (12.5 percent).

Students who reported repetition and power imbalance 

were components of the bullying they experienced were 

also more likely to agree that the bullying had an 

impact on various aspects of their lives (figure 2).

• A smaller percentage of students who reported bullying

without repetition or power imbalance agreed or

strongly agreed that bullying impacted their school work

(4.1 percent), their relationships with family or friends

(5.0 percent) and their feelings about themselves (4.3)

than students reporting bullying with repetition, power

imbalance, or both.

• A greater percentage of students who reported that

they experienced bullying with both repetition and

power imbalance agreed or strongly agreed that

bullying impacted their schoolwork (33.2 percent), their

relationships with family or friends (31.2 percent), their

feelings about themselves (44.3 percent), and their

physical health (23.4 percent) than students reporting

that only one of the components was included in the

bullying they experienced (15.0, 16.5, 24.6 and 11.1

percent, respectively).

FIGURE 2. Among students who reported they were bullied 

at school, percentage agreeing that bullying had a negative 

impact, by bullying components: School year 2014–15

NOTE: Negative effect includes being affected "somewhat" or "a lot” by the bullying. Data 

include only students who reported being enrolled in grades 6 through 12 and not receiving 

any of their education through homeschooling during the school year reported. “Bullied” 

includes students who reported being made fun of, called names, or insulted; being the 

subject of rumors; being threatened with harm; being pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; 

being pressured into doing things they did not want to do; being excluded from activities on 

purpose; and having property destroyed on purpose. “At school” includes the school 

building, school property, school bus, or going to and from school. "Repetition" includes 

bullying happening over and over, or being afraid it happening over and over. "Power 

Imbalance" includes bullying by someone who had more power or strength (e.g., someone 

bigger, more popular, with more money, or more power in any other way). Tabular data for 

percentages and their standard errors are available at http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crime/

crime_tables.asp. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, School Crime 

Supplement (SCS - Version 1) to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 2015 (NCVS). 

The 2015 SCS questionnaire was administered in two alternate versions. Only respondents 

completing Version 1 of the survey are included in these estimates. A complete discussion 

of the split-half methodology and results can be found at https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/

pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2017004. 

Endnotes

1Percentages of students who reported being bullied in any way by grade for the 2014-2015 school year: 6th (31.0 percent), 7th 

(25.1 percent), 8th (22.2 percent), 9th (19.0 percent), 10th (21.2 percent), 11th (15.8 percent), 12th (14.9 percent).

2See Gladden, R.M., Vivolo-Kantor, A.M., Hamburger, M.E., and Lumpkin C.D. (2014). Bullying Surveillance Among Youths: 

Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements, Version 1.0. Atlanta, GA; National Center for Injury 

Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved April 13, 2017, 

from http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-definitions-final-a.pdf.

3

For more information on the development and administration of the 2015 SCS survey versions see Lessne, D., and Cidade, M. 

(2017). Methodology Report: Split-Half Administration of the 2015 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization 

Survey (NCES 2017-004). U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved 

April 13, 2017, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.

This NCES Data Point presents information on education topics of current interest. 

It was authored by Deborah Lessne and Christine Yanez of Synergy Enterprises, 

Inc. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject to sampling 

variability. All differences discussed in this report are statistically significant at 

the .05 level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of National Center for 

Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, efforts are made to minimize the effects of 

nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement error, data processing 

error, or other systematic error.