Attachment to Parents and Peers as a Parameter of Bullying and Victimization

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was threefold. First, we tried to investigate whether the quality of attachment with parents and peers predicts bullying and victimization. Second, we also attempted a moderation analysis in order to examine whether the relationship between quality of attachments and bullying is moderated by the child's gender. Finally, we explored whether there are significant differences in the quality of attachment between children identified as bullies, victims, bully/victims, and uninvolved. The participants were 303 fifth and sixth grade children with a mean age of 11.06 years that completed the Revised Bullying and Victimization Questionnaire and the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. The results showed that poor quality of attachment with parents and peers predicts bullying and victimization. Moderation analysis revealed that the link between quality of attachment and bullying and victimization is significantly stronger for girls. Also, as hypothesized, bullies and bully/victims manifest the worst quality of attachment with parents and peers. The results are discussed with the framework of attachment and aggression theory, exploring the pathways that explain the association between poor attachment and externalizing problems during late childhood.

Indirect effects of parental and peer attachment on bullying and victimization among adolescents: The role of negative automatic thoughts

“…Mother, father, and peer attachment were each indirectly related to bullying perpetration as well to victimization through its links with youths’ negative automatic thoughts. These findings are consistent with previous researches demonstrating that unhealthy attachment dynamics may be a risk factor for developing dysfunctional thinking patterns, as well for a wide range of behavioral and social difficulties (Allen et al, ; Egan & Perry, ; Lee & Hankin, ; Marsh et al, ; Murphy et al, ; Nikiforou et al, ). In addition, our results replicate earlier studies showing similar contributions of mothers, fathers, and peers on adolescents’ adjustment (Laible et al, ; Ruiz‐Ortiz, Braza, Carreras, & Muñoz Sánchez, ).…”

“…Researchers argue that the expression of attachment relationships changes as the teens increase in age; during infancy and early childhood, the socialization agents provide support as the child is gaining physical independence from the parent, whereas the secure base provides support for adolescents in relation to their development of emotional and cognitive independence (Allen, McElhaney, Kuperminc, & Jodl, ). Extensive research has documented an association between parental attachment and youths’ involvement in bullying behavior (Murphy, Laible, & Augustine, ; Nikiforou, Georgiou, & Stavrinides, ; Walden & Beran, ). For example, youths with an insecure attachment to their parents were more likely to be involved in bullying as perpetrators than secure individuals (Walden & Beran, ).…”

“…For example, youths with an insecure attachment to their parents were more likely to be involved in bullying as perpetrators than secure individuals (Walden & Beran, ). Nikiforou et al () found that low levels of communication and trust and high levels of alienation to both mother and father predict bullying perpetration and victimization among sixth grade children. Furthermore, when attachment to parents and peers were compared in predicting bullying roles, the quality of parental attachment was a stronger predictor for bullying perpetration than peer attachment, while peer attachment was a greater predictor for bullying victimization than parental attachment (Murphy et al, ).…”

“…Given that bullying is a social phenomenon that occurs between peers, usually in a school setting, increasing attention has been drawn lately to the potential effects of peer attachment on bullying and victimization. Existing research in this area emphasized poor attachment to peers as a significant predictor for bully, victim and bully‐victim status among adolescents (Burton, Florell, & Wygant, ; Murphy et al, ; Nikiforou et al, ). These findings are not surprising, as close emotional relationships with peers during adolescence have been shown to serve similar functions as parental attachment in terms of youths’ social and behavioral adjustment (Laible, Carlo, & Raffaelli, ).…”

Bullying in Adolescents in Secondary School: Role of Peer Attachment on the Aggressor and Victim Behavior

“…São diversas as características que a literatura tem vindo a estudar e a reconhecer como associadas aos papéis de agressor e de vítima, no entanto, o lugar ocupado no grupo de pares e uma vinculação insegura aos mesmos parece ser comum a ambos (e.g. Bayraktar, 2012;Bruyn et al, 2010;Burton et al, 2013;Kokkinos, 2007;Nikiforou et al, 2013;Pouwels et al, 2018). Relações de vinculação seguras são baseadas no entendimento e respeito mútuos (You et al, 2015), qualidades que são contrárias às das relações caracterizadas pela agressão e vitimização.…”