Bullied by siblings: association with peer victimisation and behaviour problems in Israeli lower secondary school children

Abstract

Intervention strategies directed at reducing bullying in school should take into account pupils' experiences of victimisation by siblings at home.

Bullying in the family: sibling bullying

“…Where investigated, it appears that those who were both victims and bullies (sibling bully/victims) were at higher risk of behaviour problems than those who were only victimised. No increased risk was found for bullies 2 . In contrast, the UK survey of maltreatment found only increased mental distress (reported by the parents) in relation to sibling victimisation in children 0-9 years but not in the self-reports of adolescents or young adults 45 .…”

“…In the UK over 85% of adolescents have at least one sibling 1 ; in other regions it is normal for families to have several siblings 2 , with the largest offspring size found in sub-Saharan Africa 3 . There are exceptions, such as the China "One Child Policy (OCP)" which restricted the number of children that urban couples could have to one between 1979 and 2013 when it was relaxed 4 .…”

“…There are reasons to suggest that interactions within the family, including sibling relationships, may generalise to children's interactions with peers in other contexts, such as school 2 . Social learning theory suggests that children learn particular behaviours in relationships with their parents and siblings and that these behaviours generalise to their interactions with peers and friends 68,69 .…”

“…Three of the studies also reported that a) the associations with behaviour problems were stronger the more severe the sibling victimisation was, i.e. involved both verbal and physical bullying 2 or mental distress was increased the more severe the physical assault 78 ; or b) the odds of behaviour problems were increased up to 14 times if the child was bullied both at home and by peers at school 2,44 . The effects of sibling and peer victimisation were found to be additive rather than interactive in the US survey 78 .…”

Aggression between siblings: Associations with the home environment and peer bullying

“…Prevalence rates appear to differ according to type of aggression. Studies which assess multiple forms of aggression have found that victims most often report being physically or verbally victimized by their siblings; fewer experience teasing or psychological forms of aggression (Button & Gealt, 2010;Duncan, 1999;Skinner & Kowalski, 2013;Wolke & Samara, 2004). Using a child and adolescent sample, found that 32% had experienced physical victimization in the last year, while significantly fewer reported property-based (10%) or psychological victimization (3%).…”