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Examining the Social Context of Bullying Behaviors in Early Adolescence
Author(s) -
Espelage Dorothy L.,
Bosworth Kris,
Simon Thomas R.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of counseling and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.805
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1556-6676
pISSN - 0748-9633
DOI - 10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb01914.x
Subject(s) - psychology , context (archaeology) , developmental psychology , peer group , intervention (counseling) , social environment , injury prevention , poison control , peer influence , suicide prevention , social psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , environmental health , paleontology , psychiatry , political science , law , biology
Familial and adult influences, peer relations, and distal contextual factors were tested as correlates of a continuous measure of bullying behavior within a sample of 558 middle school students. Only 19.5% of the sample reported exhibiting no bullying behavior in the past 30 days. Parental physical discipline, time spent without adult supervision, negative peer influences, and neighborhood safety concerns were each positively associated with bullying behavior. In contrast, positive adult role models were associated with less bullying behavior. Results suggest that counselors should focus prevention and intervention efforts on the risk factors within the larger social context of an adolescent's life.