No abstract

Objective: We are surprisingly limited in our understanding of mechanisms specific to cyber-bullying perpetration, and how these might be modified by subgroup differences such as race. Social learning theory was used to assess the role of maladaptive family social dynamics on cyber-bullying and nonphysical bullying (i.e., verbal and relational) involvement through individual risk and protective factors. Method: Moderated mediation models were analyzed using multiple regression analysis across three time points (each six months apart) to examine predictors of bullying perpetration among 1,023 early adolescents (5th through 7th grades). Students completed questionnaires assessing bullying perpetration, family conflict, parental monitoring, hostility, depressive symptoms, empathy, and alcohol and drug use (AOD). Two- and three-way interactions assessed moderation by race and gender. Results: At the simple bivariate level, cyber-bullying appears to have significant overlap with nonphysical bullying. Longitudinal analyses, however, reveal less overlap. Specifically, parental monitoring was associated with higher levels of cyber-bullying at wave 3, via AOD use (only for White females). Nonphysical bullying levels were associated with both higher family violence and lower parental monitoring, which were explained by hostility (for White males) and depressive symptoms (for African American males). Conclusions: Findings validate the importance of familial socialization but suggest that cultural context and gender modify the specific patterns. Further study is needed to determine the necessity of separate prevention strategies for cyber-bullying, as current findings suggest that comprehensive (universal) prevention programs that target self-regulation and social competencies would impact both forms of bullying, and are more feasible than family targets.

This study examines how teacher and staff perceptions of the school environment correlate with student self-reports of bullying, aggression, victimization, and willingness to intervene in bullying incidents using multi-informant, multilevel modeling. Data were derived from 3,616 6th grade students across 36 middle schools in the Midwest, who completed survey measures of bullying, aggression, victimization, and willingness to intervene in bullying situations. Teachers and staff (n = 1,447) completed a school environment survey. Bivariate associations between school-level and student self-reports indicated that as teacher and staff perceive aggression as a problem in their school, students reported greater bully perpetration, fighting, peer victimization, and less willingness to intervene. Further, as staff and teacher report greater commitment to prevent bullying and viewed positive teacher and student relationships, there was less bullying, fighting, and peer victimization, and greater willingness to intervene. In a model where all school environment scales were entered together, a school commitment to prevent bullying was associated with less bullying, fighting, and peer victimization. Student-reports of bully perpetration and peer victimization were largely explained by staff and teacher commitment to bully prevention, whereas fighting and willingness to intervene were largely explained by student characteristics (e.g., gender). We conclude that efforts to address bullying and victimization should involve support from the school administration. School psychologists should play an active role in the school climate improvement process, by creating a school climate council consisting of students, parents, and teachers; administering school climate measures; identifying specific school improvement targets from these data, and engaging all stakeholders in the ongoing school improvement plan.

Relations between parents' depressed mood, marital conflict, parent-child hostility, and children's adjustment were examined in a community sample of 136 ten-year-olds and their parents. Videotaped observational and self-report data were used to examine these relations in path analyses. A proposed model was tested in which mothers' and fathers' depressed mood and marital hostility were associated with children's adjustment problems through disruptions in parent-child relationships. Results showed that both mothers' and fathers' marital hostility were linked to parent-child hostility, which in turn was linked to children's internalizing problems. Fathers' depressed mood was linked to children's internalizing problems indirectly through father-child hostility. Fathers' depressed mood was directly linked to children's externalizing problems and indirectly linked through father-child hostility. For mothers, marital hostility was directly linked to children's externalizing problems, and marital hostility in fathers was indirectly linked to children's externalizing problems through father-child hostility.

A multimethod approach was used to examine relations between marital violence, coparenting, and family-level processes and children's adjustment in a community-based sample of marital violence. Two hypotheses were tested, one in which family-level and co-parenting processes mediate relations between marital violence and child functioning and one in which marital violence and family-level/co-parenting processes function relatively independently in influencing children's adjustment. Observations of family processes were made within a triadic parent-child interaction, and several dimensions of children's socioemotional adjustment (i.e., peer relations, behavior problems) were examined. Results indicated that hostile-withdrawn co-parenting mediated the relations between marital violence and children's anxiety and depression. Marital violence, co-parenting, and family-level processes also functioned independently in predicting child outcome. Findings are discussed in terms of the family dynamics present in maritally violent homes.