Work

Victim prevalence in bullying and its association with teacher–student and student–student relationships and class moral disengagement: a class-level path analysis

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to test whether teacher–student relationship (TSR) quality and student–student relationship (SSR) quality at class level and class moral disengagement (CMD), considered together in a single model, were related to class prevalence of victims (CPV) of bullying. A sample of 899 Swedish children was recruited from 43 elementary school classes. The participants filled out a questionnaire. Because the focus of the present study was on class behaviours, all analyses were conducted on aggregated class-level data. A path analysis revealed that the prevalence of victims was likely to be lower in classes with more positive teacher–student and SSRs and lower levels of CMD. TSR quality was not directly linked to CPV, but indirectly through its direct association with SSR quality. SSR quality was negatively associated with CMD and both were directly related to CPV. Results suggest that caring, supportive and warm SSRs in the class should be considered as a crucial protective factor against bullying victimisation. Further, the findings suggest that CMD has to be addressed in bullying prevention.

Source: Research Papers in Education

DOI: 10.1080/02671522.2017.1302499

Authors: Robert Thornberg, Linda Wänström, Tiziana Pozzoli, Gianluca Gini

Institutions: Linköping University, University of Padua

Language: English

Topic: Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas