Parents’ attitudes, perceptions and coping strategies regarding school bullying

Introduction

One phenomenon that seems to have a high impact on the student population is that of bullying. The phenomena of bullying are now systematically covered by the media because of their frequency and very significant negative consequences. Bullying has been studied in recent years in many countries around the world and has been found to affect students at all levels of education, including university, with an incidence of up to 36 % of students [1], [2], [3], [4]. What is particularly worrying is that over the years the prevalence rate increases significantly [5].

The consequences of bullying have many different dimensions, affecting the physical and mental health of the victims, as well as their social life and school performance. In particularly, victims of bullying have symptoms such as feeling tired, poor appetite, stomachache, sleeping difficulties, headache, back pain and dizziness [6]. Victims of bullying report greater loneliness, suicidal ideation and higher levels of anxiety and depression than their non-bullied peers [7, 8]. Furthermore, they may experience problems such as illicit substance misuse, alcohol misuse and exhibit offending behavior with criminal justice system involvement [6, 9]. Regarding school performance, there is reduced performance in all science fields and in reading, as well as frequent absences from school [10, 11].

Bullying is a stressful event in the lives of parents and students, and parents are called upon to cope with this situation. According to the conceptual analysis of stress and coping offered by Lazarus and Folkman [12, 13], stress consists of three processes. The first reaction of the individual is the primary appraisal, which is the process of perceiving a threat to oneself. Then the individual proceeds to the secondary appraisal, which is the process of bringing to mind a potential response to the threat and finally we have coping, which is the process of executing that response. In the response to the stressful situation, individuals may develop two types of coping strategies. The first type, called problem-focused coping, is chosen for the purpose of solving the problem or getting the person to do something to change the source of the stress. The second type, called emotion-focused coping, is chosen for the purpose of reducing or managing the emotional distress associated with (or caused by) the situation. Although, a greater number of stressful situations trigger both types of coping, problem-focused coping tends to prevail when people feel that something constructive can be done, whereas emotion-focused coping tends to prevail when people feel that the stressor is something they have to endure [14].

Often parents find it difficult to understand that their child is a victim of bullying and it may take some time before the fact is noticed. This can happen when its effects become particularly severe. Therefore, parents’ knowledge of bullying plays an important role in preventing the occurrence of this phenomenon, its early recognition and its optimal management. Studies show that parents are aware of what bullying is, its prevalence in the student population and the factors that trigger it [15, 16]. They recognize the seriousness of bullying, they feel that their children will not share with them all the incidents of bullying they have experienced, and are willing to contact the school administration in case their child becomes a victim of bullying [17]. Regarding bullying copying strategies, parents’ first priority is to reduce the child’s stress due to the experience of bullying. Many parents choose to inform the school unit and intervene on behalf of the child experiencing bullying, while others choose to provide psychological support to their child, promoting prosocial behaviors and attempting to increase their child’s self-esteem and help them overcome fear. Other bullying copying strategies include advice to ignore the bully, retaliate or even move to another school [15, 18, 19].

However, when parents are not knowledgeable about bullying, they are unable to clarify who is the bully, who is the victim and who is a friend [20]. And as a consequence, they are unable to provide any help or support to their child. Improving parents’ knowledge of bullying and their ability to manage it through participation in educational intervention programmes appears to be very important [21]. Benefits of parental participation in bullying awareness programmes include reducing the likelihood of children becoming victims of bullying, as parents may learn more skills and give more support to their children when confronting bullying [21]. In addition to parental involvement, other intervention components of bullying education programmes that make them effective include whole-school approach, anti-bullying policies, classroom rules, information for parents, informal peer involvement, and work with victims [22].

The aim of the study was to assess parents’ knowledge and attitudes towards school bullying experienced by their children and to investigate the strategies they choose to cope bullying incidents.

Methods

Results

The study population included 158 parents. The demographic characteristics of the parents are presented in Table 1. The mean age of the parents was 44.9 years (SD; 6.1), with a minimum age of 22 years, a maximum age of 61 years and a range of 39 years. Most parents were mothers (66.5 %), married (87.3 %), with two children (66.5 %), university graduates (60.3 %) and monthly family income equal to 1000–2000 euros.

Parents’ responses regarding bullying are presented in Table 2. 72.2 % of children had been bullied in primary school, 17.1 % in secondary school, 8.9 % in kindergarten and 1.9 % in high school. In 65.2 % of cases the bullying was done by children of the same age, in 33.5 % by older children and in 1.3 % by younger children, and 74.6 % of children had been bullied in another public place.

The descriptive results for parents’ strategies for coping with bullying are presented in Table 3. The strategy with the highest score was “Support and advice to the child”.

A bivariate analysis was then performed between the independent variables and the scores of the bullying coping strategies. Bivariate analysis revealed a statistical relationship at the 0.20 level (p<0.20) between more than two independent variables and scores of coping strategies. For this reason, multivariate linear regression was applied, the results of which are presented in Table 4. We found that mothers (beta=0.9, 95 % CI=0.7 to 1.1, p-value<0.001) and parents who did not inform their child’s principal or teacher about the bullying incident (beta=−0.6, 95 % CI=−0.8 to −0.4, p-value<0.001) were more likely to use the “social support and information” strategy. Moreover, increased number of children was associated with reduced adaptation of the “social support and information” strategy (beta=−0.5, 95 % CI=−0.6 to −0.3, p-value<0.001). Unmarried/divorced/widowed parents adopted more often the “retaliation” strategy (beta=0.5, 95 % CI=0.1 to 0.9, p-value = 0.02). Parents with lower educational level used more often the “avoidance” strategy (beta=−0.5, 95 % CI=−0.8 to −0.2, p-value=0.004). Additionally, parents who did not inform their child’s principal or teacher about the bullying incident were less likely to use the “child restriction” strategy (beta=−0.4, 95 % CI=−0.8 to −0.04, p-value=0.03).

Discussion

Parents’ attitudes and behaviors towards bullying in this study showed that Support and advice to the child received the highest score, with social support and information receiving the second highest score. According to the multivariate analysis of the present study, mothers most frequently used the copying strategy “social support and information”. After parents participating in bullying prevention training programmes, while fathers choose the copying strategy of fighting back, mothers however promote other strategies such as pro-social, passive and help-seeking advice [28]. Mothers generally have a more active role in managing bullying, choosing the problem-focused coping strategy and in particular active coping, which is the process of taking active steps to try to remove or circumvent the stressor or to ameliorate its effects [29]. They may choose direct copying strategies, such as informing a teacher, meeting with the bullies or bullies’ mothers, or bringing their child to the counseling center for psychological treatment. While mothers’ indirect strategies may include interventions such as teaching social and emotional skills to their children to react appropriately [30]. Parental support is very important as study has shown that family social support improved the negative correlates of life satisfaction associated with bullying [31]. Also, another study showed that parental support contributes to increased attitudes of resistance to bullying [32]. Also, family support, counselling and motivation, which are forms of family support, were found to contribute to accelerate the recovery process of victims of bullying, to overcome the effects of bullying and to enhance the psychological resilience of victims of bullying [33].

The choice of the avoidance copying strategy is related to the low educational level of the participants according to the results of the present study. The fact that parents with a low educational level choose avoidance may be explained by the fact that these parents do not have access to resources such as knowledge and training that would help them to choose another copying strategy, such as supporting child victims. The choice of avoidance by the victim of bullying, compared to seeking social support from an adult, significantly increases the likelihood of suicidal ideation [34].

The majority of the participants in the present study had not received any information/education regarding the phenomenon of bullying and those who stated that they had received information/education, it came from their own initiative through reading. Parents’ knowledge regarding bullying is an important factor in reducing the likelihood of a child experiencing bullying and the likelihood of the child exhibiting bullying behavior [35]. To better inform parents about bullying, educational programs have been conducted. The effectiveness of these programs is recognized and contributes to a reduction in bullying incidents, as children of parents with bullying training are less likely to engage in bullying episodes either as bullies or as victims of bullying [21, 36].

Bullying mostly happens on the school premises. However, it is not limited to the school premises, and according to the findings of the present study, a significant proportion of bullying incidents occur in public spaces outside the school, as studies in different countries show [37, 38]. Children who engage in bullying behavior do not limit their actions to the school unit and are likely to bully either the same children they bully at school or others in public spaces. Where the same children are bullied both in and outside the school unit, they are likely to experience bullying much more intensely and with more consequences.

Conclusions

The incidence of bullying has increased over time, with significant negative physical and psychological consequences. The present study identified support and information for children as the dominant copying strategies for managing bullying. These two strategies are the best approaches to managing bullying as, according to the literature, they help the child who has been bullied to mitigate the effects of bullying while shielding the child and reducing the likelihood of experiencing bullying again. As the two copying strategies mentioned above are not always the ones chosen by parents, the need for training programmes for parents to manage bullying is necessary.