School Bullying and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms: The Role of Parental Bonding

Abstract

Much research on school bullying and victimization have outlined several individual, family, and school parameters that function as risk factors for developing further psychosocial and psychopathological problems. Bullying and victimization are interrelated with symptoms of psychological trauma, as well as emotional/ behavioural reactions, which can destabilize psychosocial and scholastic pathways for children and adolescents. The current study explored the various dimensions of psychological trauma (depressive symptoms, somatization, dissociation, avoidance behaviours) associated with school bullying/victimization in relation to parental bonding among 433 students (8–16 years old) from representative large cities in Greece. The following scales were employed: (a) Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, (b) Child Report of Post-traumatic Symptoms (CROPS), and (c) Parental Bonding Inventory instrument (PBI). Pathways analysis extracted a series of models which showed that maternal and paternal overprotection (anxious-controlling/aggressive) had positive association with post-traumatic stress symptoms. Specifically, the quality of parental bonding was related with children's bullying/victimization experiences and post-traumatic symptomology. Conversely, results indicated that maternal and paternal care can reduce the manifestation of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Implications for interventions are discussed.

Using a Mixed-Methods Approach to Analyze Traumatic Experiences and Factors of Vulnerability Among Adolescent Victims of Bullying

“…Victimization has been also associated with greater parental involvement in school, which may reflect parental awareness of children's difficulties but which may also reflect a reduced independence among these youths (50,51). In a recent study (52), the researchers demonstrate that the parental bonding quality (care, indifference, overprotection and encouragement of autonomy) is related with children's bullying/victimization experiences and post-traumatic symptomatology.…”

“…The implementation of this kind of approach is maybe the most original point of this research. As stated by Plexousakis, et al (52), who have made a research on bullying through quantitative tools: "future research should also include qualitative methods (interviews, etc.) that engage bullies and victims so as to clarify a deeper understanding of bullying and parental attitude or family relational dynamics through children's and adolescents' personal narrative/ experience and a discourse analysis methodology…" (52)'' .…”

Mental health conditions among the general population, healthcare workers and quarantined population during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic

“…COVID-19 has created an unprecedented assault on public mental health (Tang et al, 2020). Fluctuations in case-fatality rate and rapid spread of COVID-19 caused a significant psychological reaction among the public, such as anxiety, fear, panic and depression (Kopala-Sibley et al, 2016;Plexousakis et al, 2019), which has the potential to affect sleep quality (Zhou et al, 2020).…”

Psychological Impacts of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Chinese International Students: Examining Prevalence and Associated Factors

“…The outbreak of this epidemic has not only brought with it the risk of death from viral infection, but has also brought serious psychological pressure to global populations. Negative impacts from either nature or human could lead to the worsening of mental state, which could further result in conditions such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other psychological symptoms (Kopala-Sibley et al, 2016;Plexousakis, Kourkoutas, Giovazolias, Chatira, & Nikolopoulos, 2019;Schwartz et al, 2019).…”