Longitudinal associations between parental rejection and bullying/victimization

• Published in: Emotional and behavioural difficulties 2018-04, Vol.23 (2), p.203-212
• Main Authors: Stavrinides, Panayiotis, Tantaros, Spyridon, Georgiou, Stelios, Tricha, Loukia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bullying; Check Lists; Children; Correlation; Counseling; Early Adolescents; Elementary Secondary Education; Foreign Countries; Longitudinal Studies; Parent Child Relationship; Parent Surveys; Parental acceptance; Parental rejection; Parents & parenting; Personal experiences; Predictor Variables; Questionnaires; Regression (Statistics); Rejection (Psychology); Secondary schools; Student Surveys; Victimization; Victims
• ISSN: 1363-2752; 1741-2692
• DOI: 10.1080/13632752.2017.1413526

The present study investigated the direction of the relationship between parental rejection and children's engagement in bullying and victimization. Using a cross-lagged design, we examined whether (a) bullying and victimization predict an increase in parental rejection six months later, (b) parental rejection predicts an increase in bullying and victimization six months later, and (c) there is a reciprocal association between bullying/victimization and parental rejection. The participants were 846 early adolescents (mean age = 12.63 years) randomly selected from primary and secondary schools in Cyprus and Greece (375 Cypriots, 471 Greek students) and their parents. Children completed a translated version of the Personal Experiences Checklist - (PECK) and the Rejection subscale of the Parental Acceptance/Rejection Questionnaire. The results showed that parental rejection at Time 1 predicted significantly victimization at Time 2. Parental rejection however, was not a significant predictor of bullying. Moreover, bullying and victimization at Time 1 predicted significantly parental rejection at Time 2. These results provide further insight at the theoretical level in as far our understanding of the familial dynamics in bullying victimization and may provide clinical implications in relation to counselling of victimized children and their parents.