The purpose of the present study was the examination of the longitudinal effect of parental style on short-term changes in conventional and cyber forms of bullying/victimization, and the investigation of the mediating role of peer attachment relationships on this effect. The participants were 861 children and adolescents (52% girls, M = 11.72 years) attending Cyprus public institutions. Students provided information during three measurement points. There was a six and a 12 week interval among the three measurement points, respectively. The findings of the study indicated that parenting seems to be a significant predictor of all forms of bullying/victimization, conventional and cyber, in early adolescents, even when accounting for bullying/victimization levels eighteen weeks back. More importantly, results showed that the effect of parental style on bullying forms was mediated by peer attachment relationships. Results are discussed in the light of theoretical and practical implications.

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The present study sought to investigate the short-term growth in the levels of traditional and cyber forms of bullying and victimization, and examine how growth in one form of bullying relates to that of others', for students in late elementary and early high school grades (ages 10 to 15) and to examine how the educational level of the students affects this growth. In total 868 students participated in the study during four measurement waves with an approximate five-week time-lag between each wave. The Latent Growth Modeling technique was implemented in data analysis and results indicated considerable differences between traditional and cyber forms of bullying. For example a steeper fluctuation was indicated for cyber forms of bullying and victimization, which was more precipitous for students who were already reporting high levels of such behaviors, contrary to what was found for traditional forms of bullying. Nonetheless, similarities between the two forms were also present.Implications for research and practice are discussed.