Bullying and Cyberbullying in Turkish Adolescents: Direct and Indirect Effects of Parenting Processes

Abstract

The current investigation sought to (a) report on the prevalence of bullying and cyberbullying perpetration among Turkish youth; (b) test a predictive model of bullying and cyberbullying perpetration, which specifies both direct links and indirect links via low self-control between measures of maternal and paternal parenting and measures of bullying; and (c) examine sex differences in the model. Questionnaire data were collected from adolescents ( N = 546; Mage= 15.91; 56.2% female) at two public high schools in a small city in western Turkey. Key measures included low self-control, bullying and cyberbullying perpetration, and parental closeness, monitoring, and peer approval (autonomy granting). Substantial rates of both bullying (72.9%) and cyberbullying (17.9%) perpetration were found in this student population. Based on path analyses, paternal peer approval predicted bullying both directly and indirectly via low self-control. In addition, paternal closeness was found to predict higher levels of self-control; finally, low self-control predicted both bullying and cyberbullying behaviors. Analyses by sex showed that maternal and paternal closeness as well as paternal peer approval predicted low self-control and bullying/cyberbullying behaviors for female youth; however, none of the parenting processes were associated with low self-control or bullying/cyberbullying among male adolescents.