Multifactorial impact of family environment in bullying among boys and girls

Abstract

Few studies have used path analysis in order to explore the magnitude of family factors associated with violence in schools. With the purpose of filling this gap in the literature, the objective of this research was to examine the effects of family conflicts, cohesion, adaptability, support, morality, family organization, norms, and communication in bullying. Path analysis showed that family norms and ethic-moral values promoted at home had the main impact on bullying among women. Likewise, parental support and parent-child communication were the factors that most influenced the experience of victimization among women. On the other hand, for male students, family conflicts had the strongest relationship with bullying. In the same way, communication with their parents, family cohesion and parental support were the three most important predictors in the experience of victimization.