Introduction
The Handling Bullying Questionnaire (HBQ) is a 22-item self-report measure of the strategies that teachers and school counsellors are likely to use when responding to a bullying incident. Sheri Bauman, Ken Rigby and Kathleen Hoppa published it in 2008 in Educational Psychology, and it has received more than 390 citations.
The HBQ separates five approaches: ignoring the incident, disciplining the bully, working with the victim, working with the bully and enlisting other adults. This guide explains its subscales, scoring, versions and validation studies.
Key Features of the Handling Bullying Questionnaire (HBQ)
Purpose and Use
The HBQ assesses how school staff would respond to bullying. It shows which intervention approach a respondent, or a group of respondents, favors most.
Target Population
The HBQ is intended for adults, specifically teachers and school counsellors.
Structure
The HBQ has 22 items covering five strategies:
Strategy
What it reflects
Ignoring the incident
A tendency to dismiss the bullying or not intervene
Working with the bully
A non-punitive, problem-solving approach to help the bully change their behaviour
Working with the victim
Helping the victim become more assertive and resilient
Enlisting other adults
Involving other school staff, such as a counsellor or administrator, or parents
Disciplining the bully
A punitive approach, including sanctions and reprimands
Scoring Method
Respondents rate how likely they are to use each strategy on a 5-point scale from 1 ("I definitely would not") to 5 ("I definitely would").
Subscale scores: sum the items for each strategy and divide by the number of items in that subscale, giving a mean from 1.0 to 5.0.No total score: scores are averaged within the five subscales rather than combined into one total.Interpretation: compare the subscale means to see which approach the respondent or group favors most.There is no cut-off score.
Administration Format
The HBQ is a self-report questionnaire completed by school personnel.
Applications of the Handling Bullying Questionnaire (HBQ)
The HBQ supports several uses:
Research: studying how educators make decisions about bullying incidents.Professional development: showing staff which strategies they tend to favor.Cross-cultural comparison: comparing school responses to bullying across countries.Studies show that teachers tend to favor authority-based strategies and involving others, and are less inclined to work directly with victims.
Languages and availability
The HBQ has been adapted and validated in several contexts:
Hungarian: adaptation and validation in a physical education contextPakistan: translation, validation and factor structureThe original article is available from Taylor & Francis, and the instrument is listed in PsycTESTS. A copy of the questionnaire is also available.
Reliability and Validity
The HBQ has a clear factor structure that distinguishes its five strategies, although some subscales show lower internal consistency. Cultural variations exist: a six-factor structure has emerged in some contexts.
Validation studies:
US teachers' and school counsellors' strategies for handling school bullying incidents (2008): study linkTranslation, validation and factor structure of the HBQ in Pakistan (2019): study linkAdaptation and validation of the HBQ in a Hungarian physical education context (2026): study linkLimitations and Considerations
Keep these points in mind:
Internal consistency: some subscales show lower internal consistency.Factor structure: a six-factor structure has emerged in some cultural contexts, so check the structure in your sample.No cut-off: there is no cut-off score; results compare strategies rather than classify respondents.Other Versions And Related Questionnaires
The HBQ is a revised version of an earlier 26-item questionnaire devised by Ken Rigby.
These questionnaires are related:
Olweus Bullying QuestionnairePeer Relations QuestionnaireDelaware School Climate Scale (used for validation)Additional Resources
The original article: linkCorrelates of teachers' ways of handling bullying (2012): linkFor inquiries, contact Sheri Bauman, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, at sherib@u.arizona.edu.Browse more psychology questionnaires in the ResRef database.Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What does the Handling Bullying Questionnaire measure?The HBQ measures how teachers and school counsellors are likely to respond to a bullying incident: ignoring it, disciplining the bully, working with the victim, working with the bully or enlisting other adults.
How is the HBQ scored?Each of the 22 items is rated from 1 ("I definitely would not") to 5 ("I definitely would"). Items are averaged within each of the five strategy subscales, giving means from 1.0 to 5.0. There is no total score.
Does the HBQ have a cut-off score?No. The HBQ has no cut-off score. Instead, you compare the five subscale means to see which approach to bullying a respondent or group of respondents favors most.
Who developed the Handling Bullying Questionnaire?Sheri Bauman, Ken Rigby and Kathleen Hoppa published it in 2008. It revises an earlier 26-item questionnaire that Ken Rigby devised.
A Word from ResRef About the Handling Bullying Questionnaire (HBQ)
The Handling Bullying Questionnaire (HBQ) stands as a valuable, freely accessible instrument for evaluating how educators respond to bullying incidents. Its clear factor structure, distinguishing between working with victims or bullies, disciplining, enlisting other adults or ignoring incidents, makes it particularly useful for understanding professional decision-making in schools. While some subscales show lower internal consistency, validation studies across multiple languages and cultural contexts support its utility as a research and professional development tool.
References
Bauman, S., Rigby, K., & Hoppa, K. (2008). US teachers' and school counsellors' strategies for handling school bullying incidents. Educational Psychology, 28(7), 837–856. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410802379085Temiz, C. N., Ersoy, K., Szekeres, D., Gál, A., & Soós, I. (2026). Tackling Bullying: Adaptation and Validation of the Handling Bullying Questionnaire in Hungarian Physical Education Context. Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research, 112(1), 83–93. https://doi.org/10.2478/pcssr-2026-0007Shahzadi, N., Akram, B., Dawood, S., & Ahmad, F. (2019). Translation, Validation and Factor Structure of the Handling Bullying Questionnaire in Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 34(3), 497–510. https://doi.org/10.33824/pjpr.2019.34.3.27Grumm, M., & Hein, S. (2012). Correlates of teachers’ ways of handling bullying. School Psychology International, 34(3), 299–312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034312461467