BC Council for Families

New research published by the Centres of Excellence for Children’s Well-Being suggests that victims of childhood bullying may share key risk factors that could help in early identification.

As many as one in ten children suffer physical attacks, name-calling and other social aggression at school. In Predictive Validity and Early Predictors of Peer-Victimization Trajectories in Preschool (2008), researchers identified victimization risk factors including harsh parenting methods, physically aggressive behavior in the child and low socio-economic status.

Joanne Cummings, partnership director of PREVNet, comments, “This study provides strong evidence that children who exhibit high levels of aggression at an early age are at substantial risk for victimization by their peers. Sadly, the experience of harsh parenting and then peer victimization leads these kids to believe that people will not be good to them.”

Over time, peer victimization can become chronic if it’s allowed to continue, but the good news is that changes in parenting can stop the cycle of aggression and victimization. Researchers recommend early childhood preventive interventions should target parenting skills and child behaviors, particularly within families with insufficient income.

Cummings says that, “For most kids, average parenting skills are good enough. For other kids, parents need extra training in order to enjoy their relationships with their children and decrease aggression.”

For more information on reducing family risk factors and building parenting skills, learn about the results of the National Evaluation of Nobody’s Perfect Parenting program.