Family Bullying in Childhood: Consequences for Young Adults.

This study investigated childhood family bullying and explored any ongoing impacts for young adults. Research has demonstrated that peer bullying leads to contemporaneous poor consequences and some inquiries establish adverse effects of peer bullying lasting into adult life. However, family bullying is much less studied and the effects are not well understood. While there is urgency to intervene in peer bullying, this does not extend to family bullying. The aims of this inquiry were to discover what types of childhood bullying occur in families, any ongoing consequences, and how young adults define bullying. The study was a retrospective qualitative inquiry with a purposive sample. There were 43 participants: the majority were female, mean age 24.3 years, and 27% represented minorities. A qualitative description approach based in naturalistic inquiry was employed for data analysis to understand the lived experiences of young adults. NVivo 11 was used for data storage and analysis. A multi-phase coding process was utilized along with thematic analysis. Types of family bullying and participants' definitions of bullying were generated. Thematic analysis revealed lasting consequences in (a) low self-esteem and shame, (b) eating disorders, and (c) behavioral issues and relationship problems. Outcomes indicate the importance of further research on childhood family bullying as it affects young adult life and the need for researchers as well as practitioners to understand its lifelong impact.

Motivation to Move Out of the Community as a Moderator of Bullying Victimization and Delinquent Behavior: Comparing Non-Heterosexual/Cisgender and Heterosexual African American Adolescents in Chicago's Southside.

A growing body of research documents that bullying victimization is associated with delinquent behavior. There is an increasing need to better illuminate the factors that might moderate this relationship. This study examined whether the motivation to move out of low-resourced neighborhoods and sexual orientation/gender identity moderated the relationship between bullying victimization and delinquent behavior among a sample of 450 heterosexual and 91 non-heterosexual/cisgender African American youths. Measures considered were bullying victimization, delinquent behavior, sexual orientation/gender identity, motivation to move out, and family demographics. Sexual orientation/gender identity was not associated with youth delinquent behavior after controlling for covariates. Being motivated to move out moderated the association between bullying victimization and delinquent behavior. Sexual orientation/gender identity and being motivated to move out of low-resourced communities jointly contributed to the moderating effect between bullying victimization and delinquent behavior. For non-heterosexual/cisgender youth, bullying victimization is correlated with increased delinquent behavior for those with low motivation to move out of their communities compared with those with an average or higher level of motivation to stay. However, such a moderating effect was not shown for heterosexual youth.

Adolescent bullying victimization and psychosomatic symptoms: Can relationship quality with fathers buffer this association?

The present study explored racial/ethnic and sex differences in fathers' awareness and perceived ease of communication with fathers and how they are related to adolescent bullying victimization and psychosomatic symptoms. Data were drawn from the 2009 to 2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study in the United States. The sample consists of 5,121 White, 1,497 African American, and 1,850 Hispanic adolescents in grades 5 to 10. For all three racial and ethnic groups, bullying victimization was positively associated with psychosomatic symptoms. A higher level of the child's perception of their father's awareness was found to be positively associated with lower levels of bullying victimization for White and Hispanic adolescents. African American, White, and Hispanic adolescents who perceived their fathers as easy to communicate with had a lower risk of bullying victimization. The child's perception of their father's awareness buffered the positive association between bullying victimization and psychosomatic symptoms for Hispanic adolescents. A higher child's perception of their father's awareness was related to lower bullying victimization for adolescents of both sexes. The child's perception of their father's awareness and their perceived ease of communication with their father were found to be associated with a decreased risk of psychosomatic symptoms for both sexes. Overall, the results support the importance of relationship quality with fathers as a protective factor against bullying victimization.