A Conceptual Model of the Parent-Child Process for Coping with Peer Victimization

• In Event: Bullying Victimization: New Directions

Abstract

Evidence indicates that although perceiving parents as supportive can attenuate the distress caused by peer victimization (Rasalingam et al., 2016; Rudolph et al., 2020), eliciting parental support is not always an effective process for early adolescents seeking to prevent further bullying or reduce resultant negative emotions. To understand why, research is needed that elucidates the processes that occur when parents aim to support their peer-victimized child.
To address this issue, this study presents qualitative findings from 30-minute semi-structured interviews from 11 fourth through sixth grade, primarily White, early adolescents (six boys and five girls) and their mothers about their process for responding to peer victimization. Using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), segments of the transcripts of these interviews were coded for categories and themes by two trained graduate students. Based on recurring themes, a conceptual model integrating the process mothers and their children use to cope with bullying was created (see Figure 1). Overarching themes include the need to balance instrumental and emotional coping, the process of evaluating effectiveness throughout the coping process, and the integral role of communication. Example quotes for all themes are presented in Table 1.
Findings indicated a prolonged process that often starts immediately after children initially disclose bullying events and continues for months, if not years, later. Parental responses often included a mix of efforts to teach their child how to respond to bullying, including direct and active intervention efforts, and compensatory parenting behaviors focused on the child’s overall psychological health and socioemotional well-being. Through this process, children learn about the strategies their parents suggest, evaluate them for feasibility and effectiveness, and determine whether to utilize parent-recommended strategies or self-generated strategies. The coping process includes individual and joint evaluation of the effectiveness of responses and strategies. Mothers evaluate their self-efficacy to stop bullying from happening as low but report feeling high levels of self-efficacy to make their child feel better about themselves despite the bullying they experience. The role of peer victimization chronicity and severity, ambiguity between parents and children regarding strategy use and outcome, and the frequency of communication between parent and child will be discussed.
Disparate findings about the effectiveness of the strategy of telling a parent when experiencing peer victimization (e.g., Visconti & Troop-Gordon, 2010; Yeung & Leadbeater, 2010) may depend on how parents respond and communicate with their children. The process by which parents generate and select strategies to teach, as well as balance their child’s emotional needs and evaluate strategy effectiveness may also influence how effective telling a parent is for children experiencing bullying. Thus, future research should delve further into this process and consider the role of communication, parental warmth, and parental intervention when studying parental responses to peer victimization. Evaluating the effectiveness of strategies and one’s own self-efficacy may also relate to whether peer victimization stops or decreases. Determining whether parental responses (including intervention, teaching of coping strategies, and compensatory behaviors) improve peer victimization or psychological well-being is another important next step in this research.

Authors

• Leanna McWood, North Dakota State University
  Presenting Author

• Stephen Erath, Auburn University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christine Totura, Auburn University - Montgomery
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cynthia A. Frosch, Auburn University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Wendy Troop-Gordon, Auburn University
  Non-Presenting Author