Sibling Bullying in Turkish Adolescents: Translation and Cross-Cultural Validation of the Sibling Bullying Questionnaire

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to translate the Sibling Bullying Questionnaire (SBQ) into Turkish and validate it. A secondary aim was to estimate the prevalence of sibling bullying in Turkish adolescents. The SBQ was translated by a team of English-Turkish bilinguals. Self-report data were collected from Turkish adolescents (N = 301) aged 10 to 18 years old (mean age = 14.25 years, SD = 2.46). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to confirm the factor structure of the newly translated Turkish SBQ (T-SBQ). Descriptive analyses were then conducted to report the characteristics of the sample and the prevalence of sibling bullying. CFA confirmed the original two-factor structure of the T-SBQ indicating that a first-order correlated two-factor model shows the best fit: x2=160.33 (p < 0.001), df = 61, RMSEA = 0.07, CFI = 0.95 and TLI = 0.93. The T-SBQ showed satisfactory levels of internal consistency in victimisation (α = 0.84) and perpetration (α = 0.83) subscales, excellent reliability in the overall test scale (α = 0.90), and a high level of convergent validity when compared with the Revised Sibling Bullying Questionnaire (α = 0.79). In terms of sibling bullying prevalence, approximately half of the adolescents (51%) reported having been involved in some form of sibling bullying in the preceding six months, either as pure-victim (18%), pure-bully (3%) or bully-victim (30%). This result aligns with the findings from other countries such as the United States (41%), Israel (51%), and the United Kingdom (49%). The T-SBQ is valid and reliable in measuring sibling bullying in Turkish adolescents and sibling bullying is prevalent in the lives of Turkish adolescents.

A longitudinal study of sibling bullying and mental health in autistic adolescents: The role of self‐esteem

“…To the best of our knowledge, our study has been the first in examining the longitudinal associations between sibling bullying, self‐esteem, mental health, and wellbeing from early to late adolescence in autistic adolescents. Consistent with past reports, from the general and autistic populations, we found that sibling bullying was highly prevalent in the lives of autistic adolescents as about 40% reported bullying a sibling and 58% reported being victimized by a sibling at least about once a week (Deniz, Derinalp, et al, 2023; Duncan, 1999; Menesini et al, 2010; Toseeb et al, 2018; Toseeb, McChesney, Oldfield, & Wolke, 2020; Wolke & Samara, 2004; Wolke & Skew, 2012). This finding also supports an earlier argument suggesting that sibling bullying may be the most prevalent form of violence in adolescents' lives.…”

“…For instance, some researchers have found that first‐born children are more likely to be both victims and bullies of sibling bullying than second or laterborns (Tippett & Wolke, 2015). Additionally, a recent report has shown that adolescents with one‐only sibling had higher rates of sibling bullying than those with two or three or more siblings (Deniz, Derinalp, et al, 2023). Adding to this inconsistency in the literature, we found no correlations between sibling bullying, victimization and perpetration, and birth order or number of siblings.…”

“…In the SBQ, these two items were combined to generate a sibling bullying variable in which higher scores mean increased rates of sibling bullying. Additionally, a well‐accepted cut‐off value, about once a week (Dantchev et al, 2019; Deniz, Derinalp, et al, 2023), was specified to report the prevalence of sibling bullying. That is, participants who were victimized by a sibling or those who bullied a sibling at least once a week were categorized as involved in sibling bullying.…”

“…It is defined as frequent and repeated aggressive behaviors that intend to harm the weaker sibling physically, verbally, socially, or psychologically (Wolke et al, 2015). Sibling bullying is potentially the most prevalent form of violence in children's and adolescents' lives as nearly 50% reported having been involved in sibling bullying, either as a bully, victim, or both (Deniz, Derinalp, et al, 2023; Duncan, 1999; Toseeb et al, 2018; Wolke et al, 2015). Although sibling bullying has been found to be highly prevalent in both western and non‐western cultures, interestingly, reports from some counties, such as China, indicated lower rates of sibling bullying (10%–20%) than the high prevalence in other countries (Liu et al, 2021; Peng et al, 2022; Qing et al, 2022).…”

The Associations between Sibling Victimization, Sibling Bullying, Parental Acceptance–Rejection, and School Bullying

“…Wolke, Tippett, and Dantchev [ 23 ] found that up to 40% of siblings experience brotherly bullying every week, which is a frequent and harmful form of aggression in the family environment. According to Deniz et al [ 26 ], 51% of Turkish adolescents (N = 301) aged from 10 to 18 stated that they had been victims of sibling bullying in the six prior months. Participants in the study of Peng et al [ 27 ] also revealed that 12.5% of them had experienced bullying from their siblings, and 10.1% of them had experienced peer victimization, while 4.7% of them had experienced both sibling and peer victimization.…”