Mechanisms Through Which Supportive Relationships with Parents and Peers Mitigate Victimization, Depression and Internalizing Problems in Children Bullied by Peers

Abstract

This study investigated how supportive relationships with peers and parents protect children against ongoing victimization, internalizing problems and depression. The longitudinal data set tracked progress of 111 children recruited for the trial of Resilience Triple P, and previously bullied by peers. Informants included children, parents and teachers. Higher levels of facilitative parenting (warm parenting that supports peer relationships) and peer acceptance predicted lower later levels of both depression and victimization over time. Higher levels of child friendedness predicted lower levels of child reports of internalizing problems. Children's friendships, acceptance by same sex peers and facilitative parenting all played moderating roles in protecting against ongoing victimization and internalizing problems. Peer acceptance mediated the relationships between facilitative parenting and victimization. Facilitative parenting mediated the relationship between peer acceptance and depression. It was concluded that supportive relationships with parents and peers play important and complementary roles in protecting children against ongoing victimization and depression.

Supportive Parenting Buffers the Effects of Low Peer Acceptance on Children’s Internalizing Problem Behaviors

“…When mothers exhibited moderate or high maternal affection, low peer acceptance showed no effects on the developmental trend of internalizing problems. This result is consistent with the stressbuffering model (Cohen and Wills 1985), and previous findings suggesting that parental affection and support can act as a buffer against the negative impacts of poor peer relationships on internalizing problems over time (Bowes et al 2010;Hazel et al 2014;Healy and Sanders 2018); Patterson et al 1989). This result was, however, inconsistent with the findings of Bilsky et al (2013) and Sentse and Laird (2010) that reported maternal support did not moderate the negative impact of peer relationship difficulties on internalizing problems.…”

“…symptoms of withdrawal, fearfulness, anxiety and depression (Healy and Sanders 2018;Ladd 2006;McDougall et al 2001;Menting et al 2015;Rubin et al 2006;Sakyi et al 2015). For example, a study on 6-12-year-old Australian children, followed over a 9-month period, found that supportive relationships with peers, in the form of peer acceptance, predicted 1 3 changes in internalizing problems over time, with higher levels of peer acceptance predicting lower levels of later internalizing problems (Healy and Sanders 2018). A study on a sample with a mean age of 7-year-old (first grade) Korean children with 6-to 8-year follow-ups found that children's peer relationships had longitudinal effects on their mental health and adjustment.…”

“…Peer relationships play a key role in academic and adjustment outcomes of school-aged children ; for a review, see also Parker et al 2006), such as self-esteem, social and emotional skills, and mental health (for a review, see Parker et al 2006;Shin et al 2016). In turn, lack of peer acceptance in childhood has been shown to be a risk factor for developing various forms of internalizing problem behaviors, such as anxiety and depression (e.g., Healy and Sanders 2018;Hoglund and Chisholm 2014;Menting et al 2015;Sakyi et al 2015). Internalizing problem behaviors may have long-term consequences leading to interpersonal difficulties, social competence deficits, and academic problems (Barrett et al 2005; see also Tennant et al 2017).…”

“…The impacts of low peer acceptance are not, however, necessarily the same for all: the consequences of low peer acceptance have been suggested to be weaker or non-existent for children who have supportive parents (Cohen and Wills 1985;Deci and Ryan 2000). Supportive parenting has, indeed, been shown to foster positive adjustment (e.g., Healy et al 2015;Pettit et al 1997), and buffer the negative impacts of problematic peer relationships in childhood (e.g., Bowes et al 2010;Buckholdt et al 2016;Hazel et al 2014;Healy and Sanders 2018) and adolescence (e.g., Hazel et al 2014;McDonald et al 2010;Sentse and Laird 2010). The present study focusing on the critical transition to school aimed to examine to what extent supportive parenting can provide a buffer against the detrimental impact of the lack of peer acceptance at the beginning of school on development of internalizing problems during subsequent school years.…”

Personal and social factors which protect against bullying victimization

“…La familia sigue siendo un elemento protector esencial para el desarrollo psicológico y social en la adolescencia, aunque la interacción con los pares ocupa un lugar destacado. Una relación positiva entre padres e hijos brinda oportunidades para ayudar a prevenir y superar experiencias de acoso (3,22,23) . En nuestro trabajo se confirman estas evidencias, detectamos el papel protector del entorno familiar.…”