Parenting Practices as Risk or Preventive Factors for Adolescent Involvement in Cyberbullying: Contribution of Children and Parent Gender

Abstract

Literature points out the role of parenting on adolescent cyberbullying involvement. However, it is necessary to clarify how gender affects this relationship. The aim of this study has been to examine the relation between the adolescents’ perception about parenting practices, and their involvement in cyberbullying, bearing in mind both girls’ and boys’ gender and progenitors’ gender. The sample comprised 2060 Spanish secondary school students (47.9% girls; Mage = 14.34). Two-way ANOVA and binary logistic regression analyses were carried out. An effect of the interaction between sex and cyberbullying roles in maternal affection and communication, inductive discipline, and psychological control, as well as paternal promotion of autonomy and psychological control, was found. In general, it can be observed that the more negative results were found in cyber-aggressors, especially when this role is assumed by girls. The results of logistic regression analysis suggest that parenting practices explain better cyberbullying involvement in girls compared to boys, finding some important differences between both sexes regarding protective and risk factors. These findings highlight the importance of parenting practices to explain cyberbullying involvement, which supports the necessity of including family among the addresses of intervention programs.

Loneliness, Family Communication, and School Adjustment in a Sample of Cybervictimized Adolescents

“…In the case of avoidant communication with the mother, although some research indicates that female severe cybervictims tend to communicate more evasively with the maternal figure [14], there are no previous studies that have thoroughly analyzed the communication between mother and daughter with regard to cyberbullying. However, the fact that girls tend to be more sensitive to the negative reactions of their parents [57] and to avoid the issue of bullying with them [18] may explain the gender differences observed in terms of the avoidant communication of the female cybervictims of this study.…”

The Relationship Between Youth Cyberbullying Behaviors and Their Perceptions of Parental Emotional Support

“…Research on parenting and its effects on child development have evolved in response to changes in society, new evidence about genetic and environmental factors that impact child development, and changes in parental expectations and roles. Other areas include parenting and communication styles, family support, disciplining behaviors, and trust among parents and children (Campaert et al 2018;Gómez-Ortiz et al 2018).…”

Pathways Linking Exposure to Community Violence, Self-serving Cognitive Distortions and School Bullying Perpetration: A Three-Wave Study

“…Adolescence is a life cycle stage characterized by greater psychosocial vulnerability [28] and has a critical role in terms of damages in several areas of adjustment and competence as relevant as self-esteem [29], academic engagement [30], school adjustment [31] and adolescent behavioral problems [32]. This decrease in psychosocial competences, as well as the increase in behavioral problems, seem to be related to the changes that occur in peer influence, which significantly increases during adolescence [30,33], putting youth at greater risk of involvement in deviant behaviors such as alcohol use and abuse [33] or bullying behaviors [34].…”