The Validity and Reliability of the Malay Version of the Cyberbullying Scale among Secondary School Adolescents in Malaysia

Abstract

The effect of cyberbullying among adolescents in Malaysia is not much studied. The Cyberbullying Scale (CBS) has been validated to be used among English speaking adolescents to measure cyberbullying but not in Malay language. Therefore, its validity should be established before use in the Malaysian context. Thus, the study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Malay version of the CBS (CBS-M) among secondary school students. The study was cross-sectional and involved a self-administered questionnaire with 16 items from CBS-M, and 21 items from the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Participants were recruited using a multi-stage sampling method. The validity of the CBS-M was tested in two phases, namely, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Spearman’s correlation was used to examine the strength of the relationship between the CBS and subscales from DASS-21 to further support the validity of CBS-M. A total of 401 respondents from Muar, Johor, participated. The mean age was 14.6 years (SD = 1.25). EFA results indicated a one-factor model of CBS-M with a total variance extracted of 33.9%. Internal consistency measured by Cronbach’s alpha reached 0.87. The model was then tested using CFA. The initial model did not fit the data well. Thus, several model re-specifications were conducted on the initial model. The final measurement model of CBS-M fit the data well with acceptable fit indices (CFI = 0.946, TLI = 0.932, SRMR = 0.055, RMSEA = 0.049). The composite reliability for CBS-M was satisfactory with a value of 0.832. The CBS-M questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for measuring cyberbullying among young adolescents in Malaysia.

Finding the Link between Cyberbullying and Suicidal Behaviour among Adolescents in Peninsular Malaysia

“…Summing the individual raw scores for items 3 through 16 yielded a total score with higher values indicating more frequent experiences of being a cyberbullying victim [53,54]. CBS-M was validated by [55] among secondary school adolescents in one of the districts in Malaysia. It had good psychometric properties and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.87, construct reliability: 0.832).…”

An exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis among Malaysian elderly

“…In Malaysia, awareness of the elderly is relatively low, and an instrument for evaluating their wellbeing, social support, and level of independence is insufficiently established. In light of the unique culture of Malaysia, it is crucial to investigate the psychometric features of the LSNS, SPS, Katz ADL, and LSI [33]. The results may be useful in the construction of a research instrument for studies among the elderly in Malaysia, therefore increasing understanding of the health, social support, and degree of independence of the elderly in the setting of Malaysia.…”