Does Bullying Occur behind Closed Doors? Agreement of Bullying Reports between Parents and Children and Its Differential Associations with Child Outcomes

Abstract

The present study was aimed at examining the level of agreement between parent and child perceptions of sibling and peer bullying (victimization and perpetration), and investigating whether any differential associations with child emotional and conduct problems could be identified across raters. The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) was utilized in order to statistically account for the non-independence of the parent-child dyad. The study was based on a sample of 142 parent-child dyads (children: Mage = 12.3 years; parents: Mage = 44.4 years) and employed an online survey design. Bullying experiences and child outcomes were assessed via parent- and self-report. Intraclass correlation analysis revealed a moderate level of agreement between parent- and child-reports of sibling and peer bullying victimization. Low to moderate levels of parent-child agreement emerged for sibling perpetration and low agreement for peer perpetration. Moreover, APIMs found that parent- and child-reports of bullying were differentially associated with child adjustment. The results of this study suggest that child- and parent data each add additional and unique information into the big picture. Thus, our findings argue for the utility of integrating parent and child perspectives simultaneously in research and clinical practice, in order to uncover the complex reality of child functioning in the context of the family system.