Parents’ Perspectives on their Child’s Involvement in Bullying in Preschool

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore factors associated with parents’ reporting that their child had been involved in bullying in preschool. A total of 857 parents responded to a digital survey, of which 14% (119) indicated that their child had been involved in conflicts that they would describe as bullying. Hierarchical logistic regression was performed to predict the probability of bullying involvement. The strongest predictors were children’s age, preschool size, and the perceived competence of preschool staff (negatively correlated). In addition, parents who reported that they personally experienced bullying as children were more likely to report that their child had been involved in bullying and significantly less likely to perceive bullying to be an act that must occur over a prolonged period of time. These findings speak to the challenge of assessing preschool children’s involvement in bullying given the potential influence of factors such as how the concept is understood and the observer’s prior experiences.