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Living with an incarcerated parent may increase risk for bullying

BALTIMORE — Children who lived with incarcerated parents were more likely to be bullies, according to data presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting.

“Bullying has become a growing national concern. Adverse childhood experiences can weaken a child’s emotional health and overall well-being, so could be associated with bullying,” Monica L. Hajirawala, a student at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, and colleagues wrote.

To determine associations between nonviolent adverse childhood events and bully perpetration, researchers analyzed data from the National Survey of Children’s Health conducted between February 2011 and June 2012. The study cohort included 65,580 children aged 6 to 17 years.

Children who lived with a parent or guardian that served time in jail were more likely to be a bully (OR = 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1-2).

There was no significant association between living with an individual with an alcohol or substance use disorder and being a bully (OR = 1.1; 95% CI, 0.9-1.3).

Although researchers did not find a statistically significant association between experiencing a parent/guardian death and being a bully, adjusted odds ratio indicated these children were 30% less likely to be a bully.

“A statistically significant association was found between a child being a bully and having lived with an incarcerated parent or guardian. While the focus of our study was on risk of bully perpetration, subsequent works can elucidate protective factors to aid future interventions in children with incarcerated parents and explore the protective factors of a child experiencing a parent’s death,” the researchers concluded. – by Amanda Oldt

Reference:

Hajirawala ML, et al. Associations between adverse childhood experiences and bullying in the US pediatric population: A cross-sectional study. Presented at: Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting; April 30-May 3, 2016; Baltimore.

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