Parental involvement key to preventing bullying

TORONTO - Parents can play an important role in preventing their children from becoming bullies, says new research.

“Improving parent-child communication and parental involvement with their children could have a substantial impact on child bullying,” said Rashmi Shetgiri, study co-author.

Shetgiri, paediatrician and researcher at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre (UTSMC), and colleagues analysed data from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health.

Among the questions asked of 45,897 parents with children 10-17 years old were whether their child bullies or is cruel or mean to others. Researchers then identified factors that increased or reduced the risk of a child being a bully.

Results showed the prevalence of bullying was 15 percent. Factors increasing the risk included race, emotional/behavioural problems and mothers’ mental health.

African-American and Latino children had a higher likelihood of being bullies compared to white children.

In addition, children with emotional, developmental or behavioural problems and those whose mothers reported having less than “very good” mental health also were more likely to be bullies.

Other parental characteristics that increased the likelihood of child bullying were getting angry with their child frequently and feeling that their child often did things to bother them, said a UTSMC release.

Parents also played a protective role. Those who shared ideas and talked with their child, and those who met most of their child’s friends were less likely to have children who bully.

These findings were presented at the Paediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.