The Influence of Parenting on Bullying Prevention: Parenting as a Moderator of Adolescents’ Bullying Behaviors

Adolescent interactions with their peers, like bullying, have been linked to parent-adolescent interactions. However, these links have not been fully explored in bullying prevention and intervention research. Evaluations of universal bullying prevention programs often find modest effects on adolescent bullying outcomes, and few studies have examined parent-level influences on these outcomes. It may be advantageous for those in bullying research to test the differential effects of program outcomes via moderation. The current evaluation study examines the effects of the Be SAFE bullying prevention program on adolescent bullying behaviors, as moderated by adolescent perceived parenting. By applying a multi-level moderation model, the current study assessed changes in self-reported bullying behaviors for a sample of 82 middle school students who participated in the Be SAFE bullying prevention program. Students also self-reported their parent’s level of warmth, hostility, and parenting style. This evaluation study shows that adolescents who perceived their parents to be permissive increased in bullying perpetration and assisting behaviors at a higher rate than those who perceived their parents as authoritative or authoritarian. These results suggest that distal factors may impact outcomes of youth prevention programs. Particularly, this study’s findings show that parent-adolescent interactions may impede the effectiveness of bullying prevention efforts. Future evaluations of bullying prevention programs should use moderation analyses to understand how proximal and distal factors may impact youth program outcomes. Highlights Adolescent perceived parenting predicts pre-program bullying perpetration and assisting behaviors. Adolescent perceived parental warmth and rejection does not predict pre- to post-program changes in bullying behaviors. Findings indicate that perceived permissive parenting may exacerbate the potential adverse effects of bullying prevention programs.