Children’s Secure Base Knowledge and Friendship Quality as Protective Factors for School Bullying and Victimization in Elementary School

• In Event: Bullying Victimization: New Directions

Abstract

Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969) and the ecological perspective (Bronfenbrenner, 1994) emphasize the centrality of familial and peer experiences for children’s healthy social development and adjustment. Studies have shown that children with a secure attachment with parents or good friendship quality were less likely to be involved in bullying and victimization (Bollmer et al., 2005; Murphy et al., 2017), but less is known about how the protective functions of attachment and friendship quality may translate into actual adjustment outcomes. This study examined how children’s secure base knowledge (attachment representations) and friendship quality might protect elementary school children from bullying and victimization, and how that in turn contributed to children’s emotional well-being and academic achievement, and a decrease in aggression and social problems.

Participants were 570 Singaporean parents (73.9% mothers, 23.9% fathers) and their children (49.3% males) who attended Grades 4 to 6 between 2018 and 2019. Children were between nine and 13 years old (M = 11.00 years, SD = .79). More than half were ethnic Chinese (58.1%). Children completed the secure base script test (Waters et al., 2015) using a list of 12 helping words per story, and constructed four stories depicting a series of distressful situations. Children also completed self-reports of school bullying and victimization (California Bullying Victimization Scale; Felix et al., 2011) and emotional well-being (Stirling Children’s Well-being Scale; Liddle & Carter, 2015). Parents provided reports of children’s aggressive behavior and social problems (Child Behavior Checklist; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) and academic achievement.

Data were screened for missingness, outliers and normality. Structural equation modeling was conducted using MPlus 8.4. The measurement model with eight latent constructs (secure base knowledge, friendship quality, bullying, victimization, emotional well-being, academic achievement, aggression and social problems) showed adequate fit, χ2 (2110) = 2856.51, p < .001; CFI = .91; RMSEA = .03; SRMR = .05. Standardized factor loadings ranged from .18 to .87 (all ps <.001). The structural model is presented in Figure 1. Results showed that greater secure base knowledge was related to less victimization, which in turn increased children’s emotional well-being and academic performance, but decreased social problems. Secure base knowledge was unrelated to bullying experiences. On the other hand, friendship quality was not associated with children’s victimization experiences, but predicted fewer instances of children bullying others, which in turn was linked to lower levels of aggression. Overall, secure base knowledge was directly linked to children’s academic performance; while friendship quality was related to enhanced emotional well-being, academic performance and fewer social problems. The path coefficients and the corresponding inferential statistics are shown in Table 1.

The findings suggest that attachment and friendship quality may serve distinct functions in the context of school bullying and victimization. Children’s secure base knowledge protected them from victimization and the associated negative effects; whereas friendship quality could reduce the likelihood of children engaging in bullying behaviors in the first place. This underscores the importance of adopting a multi-pronged approach in bully-free programs and interventions, and the value of home-school partnership in supporting victims of bullying.

Authors

• Hoi Shan Cheung, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University
  Presenting Author

• Jerrine Zi Ning Khong, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  Non-Presenting Author

• Denise Liu
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rebecca P Ang, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  Non-Presenting Author