Longitudinal Relationships Between Parent Factors, Children’s Bullying, and Victimization Behaviors

Longitudinal data from NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development tested direct, indirect and reciprocal effects of maternal depressive symptoms, stress/support factors on child bullying and peer victimization through mother–child relationship quality at grades 3, 5, 6. Data from 828 mother-child dyads indicated small significant effects of some hypothesized pathways, including a small direct effect of maternal depressive symptoms at grade 3 on peer victimization at grade 5, but not on bullying behaviors. Mother–child relationship quality at grade 5 negatively predicted bullying at grade 6, but not peer victimization. There were small effects of bullying behaviors at grade 5 on decreased mother–child relationship quality at grade 6. Maternal employment at grade 3 predicted decreased bullying behaviors at grade 6 through mother–child relationship quality at grade 5. Findings are relevant for parent inclusive research and approaches to anti-bully intervention strategies and prevention policies.