Citation

Zhou H, Wang Q, Yu S, Zheng Q. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022; 19(10): e6206.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph19106206

PMID

35627743

Abstract

At present, school bullying incidents frequently occur, attracting increased attention from researchers. In this study, we attempt to explore the impact of parenting styles on perceived school non-physical bullying. Four hundred ninety-two students in the fifth and sixth grades of eight primary schools in Zhejiang province were surveyed. To control any potential confounding factors, a randomized sampling survey method was used to distribute questionnaires. The results showed that negative affect experiences, negative coping styles, negative family parenting styles, and the perceived school non-physical bullying were all positively correlated with each other (p < 0.05). Perceived verbal bullying differed significantly by gender, grade, and only/non-only children (p < 0.05). Perceived relationship bullying significantly differed between grades (p < 0.05). The gender difference in perceived cyberbullying also reached a significant level (p < 0.05). The rejection parenting style was shown to be an important factor that may be associated with students' perceived school non-physical bullying; it was observed to be directly associated with students' perceived school non-physical bullying and indirectly associated with students' perceived school non-physical bullying by influencing negative affect experiences and negative coping styles. In conclusion, negative affect experiences and coping styles may have a chain-like mediating effect between the rejection parenting style and students' perceived school verbal bullying. Moreover, negative affect experiences may have a partial mediating effect between the rejection parenting style and students' perceived school cyberbullying, relationship bullying, and non-physical bullying total scores. This study provides first-hand empirical data support for schools, families, and education authorities to guide and manage non-physical bullying incidents in schools. They also provide a theoretical basis for subsequent related research in the field of non-physical bullying.

Language: en

Keywords

China; mediating role; negative affect experiences; negative coping styles; perceived school non-physical bullying; rejection parenting styles