Examining the social context of bullying behaviors in early adolescence

Familial end adult influences, peer relations, and distal contextual factor s were tested as correlates of a continuous measure of bullying behavior wi thin a sample of 558 middle school students. Only 19.5% of the sample repor ted exhibiting no bullying behavior in the past 30 days. Parental physical discipline, time spent without adult supervision, negative peer influences, and neighborhood safety concerns were each positively associated with bull ying behavior. In contrast, positive adult role models were associated with less bullying behavior. Results suggest that counselors should focus preve ntion and intervention efforts on the risk factors within the larger social context of an adolescent's life.