Description

The Handling Bullying Questionnaire (HBQ) is a psychometric instrument developed by Ken Rigby to assess the strategies that teachers and other school professionals use when responding to incidents of school bullying. The questionnaire evaluates attitudes toward different intervention approaches and identifies preferred methods for managing bullying situations involving children and adolescents.

The HBQ consists of 22 items describing potential responses to bullying incidents. Participants indicate the likelihood that they would adopt each strategy, providing valuable insight into professional decision-making and intervention preferences. The questionnaire examines a broad range of management approaches, including direct intervention with the bully, support for the victim, involvement of parents and school personnel, disciplinary actions, and non-intervention strategies.

The instrument is widely used in educational psychology, school psychology, teacher education, educational leadership, counseling, and bullying prevention research. It provides researchers and educators with valuable information about how bullying incidents are managed within school settings and supports the development of evidence-based anti-bullying policies.

Data Analysis and Applications

Data obtained from the HBQ are analyzed using established psychometric and statistical techniques to evaluate the reliability and validity of the instrument. Internal consistency is commonly assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, while the questionnaire’s structure may be examined through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

The questionnaire measures five primary intervention strategies:

  • Working with the victim
  • Working with the bully
  • Ignoring the incident
  • Involving other adults
  • Punishing the bully

HBQ data are commonly used to:

  • evaluate teachers’ responses to bullying incidents;
  • compare intervention strategies across schools and educational systems;
  • examine differences according to demographic and professional characteristics;
  • evaluate anti-bullying training programs;
  • support research on school climate, bullying prevention, and educational practice.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Handling Bullying Questionnaire (HBQ) is to assess educators’ preferred strategies for managing bullying incidents in school settings.

More specifically, the instrument aims to:

  • identify common approaches used to address bullying;
  • evaluate attitudes toward different intervention methods;
  • support the development of effective school anti-bullying policies;
  • assess professional training needs;
  • facilitate research on bullying prevention and school safety.

By identifying the intervention strategies favored by school personnel, the HBQ contributes to improving bullying prevention practices and promoting safer, more supportive educational environments.

Scoring

The HBQ contains 22 items, each rated on a five-point Likert scale:

  • 5 = Definitely Would Do
  • 4 = Probably Would Do
  • 3 = Unsure
  • 2 = Probably Would Not Do
  • 1 = Definitely Would Not Do

Responses are summed within each of the five management categories to generate subscale scores. Higher scores indicate a stronger preference for using the corresponding intervention strategy when responding to bullying incidents. The questionnaire is primarily intended to compare patterns of intervention rather than produce a single overall bullying-management score.

References

Rigby, K. (2006). Handling Bullying Questionnaire. Retrieved from http://www.kenrigby.net/

Rigby, K., & Bauman, S. (2007). What Teachers Think Should Be Done About Cases of Bullying. Professional Educator.

Bauman, S., Rigby, K., & Hoppa, K. (2008). US Teachers’ and School Counsellors’ Strategies for Handling School Bullying Incidents. Educational Psychology, 28(7), 837–856.

Rigby, K., & Bauman, S. (2010). How School Personnel Tackle Cases of Bullying: A Critical Examination. In The International Handbook of School Bullying (pp. 455–468). Routledge.