ECPN Student Poster Contestant: Adolescent Pre-Existing Perceptions and Attitudes’ Influence on Universal Bullying Prevention: The Interacting Effects of Perceived Parenting and Bullying Attitudes on the Change in Reported Bullying Behaviors

Introduction: Evaluations of universal bullying prevention programs often find modest effects on adolescent bullying outcomes. Therefore, it may be advantageous for those in bullying prevention research to test differential effects of program outcomes via moderation. Given the research that links both parenting and bullying attitudes to adolescent bullying behaviors, bullying prevention programs should examine how these influences can affect program outcomes. This poster will present the moderating effects of adolescent perceived parenting on the relationship between adolescent bullying attitudes and the change in adolescent reported bullying behaviors after completing a bullying prevention program.

Methods: Adolescents who participated in a school-based bullying prevention program, completed pre-and post-program questionnaires that assessed their bullying behaviors, pro-victim bullying attitudes (attitudes that show empathy towards the victims of bullying), and adolescent perceived parenting. The sample consisted of 87 seventh grade students who completed the Be SAFE anti-bullying curriculum.

Results: SEM was used to examine the interactive effects of adolescent perceived parenting and pre-program bullying attitudes on the change in reported bullying behaviors. Change in pre- and post-program bullying behaviors was assessed using latent difference score, which controlled for pre-program bullying behaviors. Only authoritarian and rejecting parenting types were found to interact with pre-program bullying attitudes.

Moderation analysis showed a significant interaction between perceived authoritarian parenting and pro-victim bullying attitudes (β = -0.63, SE = 0.23; p = 0.02). Specifically, adolescents who perceive their parents to be authoritarian and who report less pro-victim bullying attitudes have the greatest increases in reported bullying behaviors compared to those who perceived their parents to be permissive or authoritative. A separate interaction model also showed a significant interaction of perceived parental rejection and pre-program pro-victim bullying attitudes on the change in bullying behaviors after completing the program (β = 0.66, SE = 0.35; p = 0.06). Specifically, adolescents who perceive their parents to be less rejecting and report less pro-victim bullying attitudes increase in reported bullying behaviors after completing the program. On the other hand, adolescents who perceive their parents to be less rejecting and report more pro-victim bullying attitudes before the program decrease in their report of bullying behaviors after program completion.

Conclusions: Adolescents’ perceptions of parenting and pre-program bullying attitudes have an effect on program outcomes. These findings have implications for bullying prevention programs, and possibly other adolescent prevention programs. Understanding the interaction between distal factors, such as parenting and family, on the individual, can contribute to better program designs that include targeted approaches that will improve program effectiveness and adolescent outcomes.