Abstract
Bullying and cyberbullying prevention remain a major priority for schools, communities, and families, and research is clear that positive, constructive parenting practices can play a key preventive role. The current work explores six dimensions of parenting (warmth, structure, autonomy support, rejection, chaos, and coercion), and their specific relationship to school and online bullying. Using survey data from a nationally representative sample of 1474 English-speaking 12- to 17-year-old US youth, we found that students whose parent(s) exhibit warmth, structure, and autonomy support are less likely to have engaged in bullying or cyberbullying offending, while those with parental relations marked by rejection, chaos, and coercion are more likely to have participated in both forms of peer aggression. Implications for developing stronger parent-child relationships through improved parenting practices as a mechanism for bullying prevention are discussed.
Highlights
- Approximately 21% of US youth have bullied someone else at school in at least one or more ways in the last 30 days.
- Approximately 5% of US youth have bullied someone else online in at least one or more ways in the last 30 days.
- Positive parenting in the form of warmth, structure, and autonomy/support were linked to lower bullying and cyberbullying.
- Negative parenting in the form of rejection, chaos, and coercion were associated with higher levels of bullying and cyberbullying.
- Parental influence has a stronger impact on cyberbullying as compared to traditional bullying.
Bullying and Cyberbullying Offending Among US Youth: The Influence of Six Parenting Dimensions | Journal of Child and Family Studies | Springer Nature Link https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-021-02208-7
