Ecological-transaction model approach of adolescents’ parental maltreatment and peer-bullying: the moderating role of bullying at the classroom

INTRODUCTION: The present study examined the ecological-transactional model delineated by Cicchetti and Lynch (1993) and the nature of the association between adolescents’ parental maltreatment and victimization and bullying at school. METHOD: Multivariate multilevel regression analyses were conducted on a sample of 2.852 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 from 25 secondary schools. Data was nested across 133 classrooms. Classrooms level variables and individual variables in relationship to parental maltreatment, behavioural disorders, sex, and bullying and victimization were included in the analysis. RESULTS: Results indicated that adolescents who reported suffering violence at home, showed more vulnerability to becoming victims of bullying at school, with the relationship being moderated by the level of bullying in the classroom. It was also examined the role of behavioural disorders and a relation between these factors was found amongst the bullies but not the victims. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study uses the systemic perspective of ecological-transactional model on child maltreatment to show the importance between the school and home microsystems in the perpetuation of victimization. The results imply that what children experience at home might cause emotional and behavioural differences in varying classroom climates at school. Therefore, understanding the interactions between systems’ transaction of socialisation mechanisms might contribute for effective anti-bullying programs.