Children who were exposed to violence in the home engaged in higher levels of physical bullying than youngsters who were not witnesses to such behavior, according to a study by researchers from the University of Washington and Indiana University.
The study is one of the first in the United States to specifically examine the association between child exposure to intimate partner violence and involvement in bullying. It also is one of the first to break down bullying into physical aggression (hitting, pushing and other forms outward aggression) and relational aggression (teasing, being mean and ostracizing peers).
Overall, 34 percent of the children studied engaged in bullying and 73 percent reported being the victim of some form of bullying in the previous year. Almost all of the bullies, 97 percent, said they were also victims of bullying.
"Children learn from seeing what their primary caregivers do. They are very attuned and very observant about what goes on in a household," said Dr. Nerissa Bauer, lead author of the study and a former UW pediatrician who is now an assistant professor of pediatrics at Indian and Riley Children's Hospital.
"Parents are very powerful role models and children will mimic the behavior of parents, wanting to be like them. They may believe violence is OK and they can use it with peers. After all, they may think, 'If Daddy can do this, perhaps I can hit this kid to get my way.' When parents engage in violence, children may assume violence is the right way to do things," she said.
"This study supports the idea that parental violence can lead to violence between children and their peers," added Todd Herrenkohl, a UW associate professor of social work and co-author of the paper published in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics. "Children develop a mindset when they see how parents deal with problems. It is a script based on early observations in the home."
Data for the study were drawn from
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Contact: Joel Schwarz
joels@u.washington.edu
206-543-2580
University of Washington
12-Sep-2006