What factors predict bullying: individual, environmental or both?

Rossidou, F (Fani)¹, Ioannou, M (Myria)¹, Petrides, M (Maria)¹, Stavrinides, P (Panayiotis)^1
1University of Cyprus

 

Submission type

Poster only

Scheduled

Hallway, 22-07-2016, 16:00 - 17:00

Keywords

prosocial traits, peer communication, mother alienation

Summary

Bullying is considered one of the most important issues school psychologists need to handle due to the increasing incidents in schools. Literature suggests that individual and environmental factors are associated with bullying attitudes in adolescence. There are limited studies examining the interaction between individual and environmental factors in predicting bullying. This study aims to investigate whether peer communication, mother alienation, prosocial traits and their interactions can predict bullying. In this study, the sample consisted of 916 Cypriot High-School Students (Mage= 16.01, SD =.90, 52%girls). All students completed a Battery of Questionnaires to assess the variables under investigation. A multiple hierarchical regression was performed to predict bullying using a unique and interactive effect of peer communication, mother alienation and prosocial traits. The results revealed that mother alienation positively predicts bullying, whereas prosocial traits negatively predict bullying attitudes. Moreover, it was shown that the interaction effect of all three factors can also predict higher level of bullying in adolescence. These findings provide evidence to stimulate future research in understanding bullying. This knowledge can be used to improve interventions that aim to tackle bullying in adolescence and thus help change school climate and relations.

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