Adolescent Bullying Involvement and Perceived Family, Peer and School Relations: Commonalities and Differences Across Race/Ethnicity

Abstract

Purpose-Although bullying is recognized as a serious problem in the U.S., little is known about racial/ethnic differences in bullying risk. This study examined associations between bullying and family, peer, and school relations for White, Black and Hispanic adolescents.Methods-A nationally-representative sample (n=11,033) of adolescents in grades six to ten participated in the 2001 Health Behaviors in School-Aged Children survey, self-reporting bullying involvement and information on family, peer and school relations. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression analyses controlling for gender, age and affluence were stratified by race/ethnicity.Results-Nine percent of respondents were victims of bullying, 9% were bullies, and 3% were bully-victims. Black adolescents reported a significantly lower prevalence of victimization than White and Hispanic students. Multivariate results indicated modest racial/ethnic variation in associations between bullying and family, peer and school factors. Parental communication, social isolation, and classmate relationships were similarly related to bullying across racial/ethnic groups. Living with two biological parents was protective against bullying involvement for White students only. Further, although school satisfaction and performance were negatively associated with bullying involvement for White and Hispanic students, school factors were largely unrelated to bullying among Black students.Conclusions-Although school attachment and performance were inconsistently related to bullying behavior across race/ethnicity, bullying behaviors are consistently related to peer relationships across Black, White and Hispanic adolescents. Negative associations between family communication and bullying behaviors for White, Black and Hispanic adolescents suggest the importance of addressing family interactions in future bullying prevention efforts.

Four decades of research on school bullying: An introduction.

“…In his early research, Olweus (1978Olweus ( , 1993 distinguished between children who bully others and those who both bully others and are victimized. These "bully victims" have been characterized as hyperactive, impulsive, and as experiencing more peer rejection, more academic difficulties, and more stressful and harsh home environments (see Schwartz, Proctor, & Chien, 2001), but represent only a small portion (1% to 12%) of students (Dulmus et al, 2006;Nansel et al, 2001;Solberg & Olweus, 2003;Spriggs, Iannotti, Nansel, & Haynie, 2007). Over the past four decades, research has also shown that many bullies are socially intelligent (Björkqvist, Österman, & Kaukiainen, 2000;Sutton, Smith, & Swettenham, 1999a, 1999b and enjoy considerable status in the peer group (Vaillancourt et al, 2003), leading to distinctions between socially marginalized and socially integrated bullies (Farmer et al, 2010).…”

Bullying Experiences Among Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…Parents represent children's primary socialization agents and play a critical role in their children's social development and understanding. The bullying literature on typically developing youth indicates that peer victimization experiences are related to poor parent-child relationships (Spriggs, Iannotti, Nansel, & Haynie, 2007;Ybarra & Mitchell, 2004). Because peers have such a critical socialization role during childhood and adolescence (Brown, Eicher, & Petrie, 1986), peer relationships are likely implicated in the consideration of risks and protective processes related to victimization.…”

Ergenlerde Baglanma Ve Saldirganlik Davranislari Arasindaki Iliskinin Incelenmesi

“…Okulda zorbalık davranışlarının, akran ilişkileri yönünden ele alındığı bazı araştırmalarda, zorba statüsündeki ergenlerin akran grupları tarafından daha az dışlandıkları görülmüştür. Zorba grup tarafından kabul gören bu ergenlerin diğer akranları tarafından kabul edilmediklerine dair bulgular bulunmaktadır (Spriggs, Iannotti, Nansel ve Haynie, 2007). Akran grubuna ait olmanın saldırgan davranışları arttırdığı bulgusu literatür ile paralellik göstermektedir (Kobak, Cassidy, Lyons-Ruth ve Ziv, 2006;Spriggs ve ark., 2007).…”