| Bullying is an issue that negatively influences the lives of numerous children throughout the world. With more and more research being done on bullying interventions and prevention, it is evident that the need for research examining specific risk-factors associated with bullying in early childhood and in adolescence is greater than ever. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate whether or not early play behaviors, genetic influences, and environmental influences in early childhood predict later bullying behaviors in adolescence.; Participants comprised 85 children who had previously participated in the larger, on-going Southern Illinois Twins and Siblings Study (SITSS; DiLalla, 2002B) at age five and who were between the ages of 10 and 17 during the follow-up portion of this study. At age five, each child played with an unfamiliar peer for 20 minutes and the child's parents completed a series of questionnaires measuring parent personality factors, child temperament at age five, daycare status, and socioeconomic status. Aggressive behaviors reflective of bullying (ABRB's) exhibited during the peer play session at age five were assessed using a bullying coding scheme developed by the principle investigator. At follow-up, the same participants were contacted and asked to complete a variety of questionnaires assessing childhood behaviors, bullying behaviors, temperament, and socioeconomic status.; Results from this study revealed that childhood and adolescent temperament, parent personality, and socioeconomic status were significantly associated with bullying behaviors at age five, at follow-up, or at both time periods. Additionally, this study further examined the influence that a child's sex and age have on observed and reported rates of physical and relational bullying in early childhood and in preadolescence to adolescence. Results from this study revealed that boys had higher levels of observed and reported physical bullying than girls and older children had higher levels of relational bullying compared to younger children.; Overall, findings from this study could greatly inform future research on bullying in childhood as well as the development of bullying prevention programs. By being able to identify risk factors in early childhood that are associated with bullying, researchers and professionals can begin to develop early prevention programs that specifically target at-risk children in the early preschool years. Thus, the findings from this study may help reduce bullying in childhood by providing empirical evidence as to what factors need to be addressed to prevent the development of bully behaviors in later development. |
