Risk Factors Associated With School Bullying Behaviors: A Chinese Adolescents Case-Control Study, 2019

Dark tetrad personality traits also play a role in bullying victimization

Bullying refers to physical and/or psychological mistreatment or abuse by one individual or group toward another individual or group. Bullying is widespread in our society and carries considerable negative consequences. This phenomenon is caused by multiple factors, which include personality. Much more attention has been paid to the study of the perpetrators' negative personality traits than the victims. Several studies have examined the relationship between these traits—the Dark Triad or Dark Tetrad—and being a victim of bullying (or mobbing) in adults, especially in the workplace. However, only two studies have been located that have studied these relationships in adolescents. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the relationship between being a victim of bullying and the ark Tetrad traits, delving into the specific contribution of Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism in victims of bullying in Spanish adolescents. A cross-sectional study was carried out by administering the Short Dark Triad, the Assessment of Sadistic Personality, and the Peer Bullying Questionnaire to 393 adolescents aged 12–18 years (M = 14.18; SD = 2.52; 53.7% male). The Dark Tetrad traits predicted the victimization variables in the seven models analyzed, with the verbal abuse model being the model with the largest contribution. Of the four dark traits, sadism stands out as the trait with the highest specific contribution. Our results indicate, despite not implying a causal relationship, that those people with high scores in the Dark Tetrad traits tend to be more victimized by bullying. Knowing the personality traits of the bullying perpetrators and their victims, practitioners will have a complete picture of the personality variables that play a role in preventing bullying and its associated victimization.

Latent Profile Analysis of Children's Moral Character and the Classing Effect on Bullying in Rural China

Moral character is the key component of positive youth development. However, few studies have examined children's moral character and the association with bullying and bullied behavior. Guided by the framework of positive psychology, this study aimed to investigate the association of moral character with bullying and bullied behavior among children in rural China and whether the association differed between left-behind children (LBC) and non-left-behind children (NLBC). A total of 723 children (aged 11-16 years) in rural China completed standard questionnaires that contained six specific character traits and bullying/bullied behavior. Latent profile analysis revealed that children's moral character was divided into three classes (i.e., low-character class, average-character class, and high-character class). Compared with children in low-character and average-character classes, children in the high-character class had the lowest bullying and bullied behavior. Children in the low-character class were those at greater risk of bullied behavior. The association of the latent character classes with bullied behavior differed between LBC and NLBC. These findings highlight the urgent need for character-based and targeted interventions to prevent children's bullying and bullied behavior.

The Association Between Mindful Parenting and Adolescent Internalizing and Externalizing Problems: The Role of Mother-Child Communication

This study aimed to explore the mediation process from maternal mindful parenting to adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems through mother-child communication and adolescent self-disclosure. A total of 496 mother-adolescent dyads participated in the current study. Mother-reported mindful parenting and mother-child communication and adolescent-reported self-disclosure and behavior problems were collected. Path analysis results showed that mothers' mindful parenting was indirectly associated with adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors through mother-child communication and adolescent self-disclosure. In addition, the specific components of mindful parenting were examined in detail. The component of interacting with full attention showed unique patterns, while components of compassion and acceptance and emotion awareness of children showed similar pattern with the total score. These findings contribute to the knowledge of the mechanism underlying how mindful parenting benefit adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and have implications for clinical interventions.