Latent profiles of bullying perpetration and victimization: Gender differences and family variables

Abstract

Background: School bullying is a prevalent issue that threatens the psychological and social well-being of adolescents. However, little research has investigated how gender and family variables were related to bullying-involvement patterns among adolescents with siblings.

Objective: This study explored gender differences in the profiles of bullying involvement and the relationship between sibling, parental variables, and these profiles among Chinese adolescents.

Participants and setting: Participants (N = 1,060; 46.0 % boys; M_age = 15.53) were recruited from junior and senior high schools in Jiangxi and Guizhou Provinces, China.

Methods: Bullying involvement, sibling warmth and conflict, and parental psychological maltreatment and neglect were assessed by self-report questionnaire. Latent profile analysis was used to identify subgroups with distinct bullying involvement patterns, then multiple logistic regressions were performed to investigate the associations between family variables and bullying-involvement subgroups.

Results: We found gender differences in both the latent profiles of bullying involvement and the associations between profiles and family variables. Only boys were identified severe bully-victims (3.39 %), while only girls were categorized as relational bully-victims (20.18 %). Boys and girls were similarly represented among uninvolved students (70.76 % vs. 66.85 %), moderate bully-victims (15.25 % vs. 6.49 %), and victims (10.59 % vs. 6.49 %). Students with more sibling warmth manifested less likelihood of engaging in bullying-related profiles, with more parental psychological maltreatment, and more parental neglect manifested more likelihood of engaging in bullying-related profiles only among girls. While students with more sibling conflict were related to more bullying-related profiles among boys than girls.

Conclusions: The findings emphasize the importance of developing gender-specific bullying intervention strategies that also consider relevant family factors.

Keywords: Bully; Family factor; Gender; Latent profile analysis; Perpetrator; Victim.