Bullying in preschool: The associations between participant roles, social competence, and social preference.

The different roles of bullying participation (bully, follower, victim, defender of the victim, and outsider) have not been investigated in preschool children. The aims of this study were to use a peer-report measure to assess these roles and to investigate their associations with social competence among pre-schoolers. We also explored whether status among peers, indicated by being socially preferred, mediates the relationship between social competence and bullying roles. Three hundred twenty 3- to 6-year-old children participated in the study. Bullying roles and social preference were assessed by means of peer reports, whereas social competence was investigated with a Q-Sort methodology, based on observations in classrooms. Bullying was also assessed by means of teacher reports. The results showed quite a clear distinction among roles and a correspondence between peer and teacher assessments, except for the role of outsider. The role of defender was positively associated with social competence, whereas the other roles were negatively associated. In a subsample, social preference statistically predicted the role of bully and mediated between social competence and bullying. The findings are discussed in terms of the importance of assessing bullying and its correlates at a very young age, although roles may further develop when children grow up.

[1]  C. Belacchi,et al.  Prosocial/hostile roles and emotion comprehension in preschoolers. , 2010, Aggressive behavior.

[2]  S. Perren,et al.  Children’s Peer Victimization, Empathy, and Emotional Symptoms , 2010, Child psychiatry and human development.

[3]  K. Hallam.  First in line. , 2000, Modern healthcare.

[4]  G. Ladd,et al.  Peer victimization: cause or consequence of school maladjustment? , 1996, Child development.

[5]  João R. Daniel,et al.  Social Competence in Preschool Children: Replication of Results and Clarification of a Hierarchical Measurement Model , 2013 .

[6]  B. Mccandless,et al.  A picture sociometric technique for preschool children and its relation to teacher judgments of friendship. , 1957, Child development.

[7]  Christina Salmivalli,et al.  Unique and Interactive Effects of Empathy and Social Status on Involvement in Bullying , 2009 .

[8]  C. Monks,et al.  Unjustified aggression in preschool , 2002 .

[9]  Thomas Bäck.  An Empirical Comparison , 1996 .

[10]  R. P. McDonald,et al.  Structural Equations with Latent Variables , 1989 .

[11]  T. Little,et al.  Going to scale: a nonrandomized nationwide trial of the KiVa antibullying program for grades 1-9. , 2011, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[12]  David P Mackinnon,et al.  Confidence Limits for the Indirect Effect: Distribution of the Product and Resampling Methods , 2004, Multivariate behavioral research.

[13]  F. Alsaker,et al.  Early diagnosis and prevention of victimization in kindergarten. , 2001 .

[14]  M. Hauser,et al.  Bullies have enhanced moral competence to judge relative to victims, but lack moral compassion , 2011 .

[15]  E. DeMulder,et al.  Preschool emotional competence: pathway to social competence? , 2003, Child development.

[16]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  Aggressors, Victims, and Defenders in Preschool: Peer, Self-, and Teacher Reports , 2003 .

[17]  Anthony D. Pellegrini,et al.  An Empirical Comparison of Methods of Sampling Aggression and Victimization in School Settings. , 2000 .

[18]  E. Waters,et al.  Q-sort definitions of social competence and self-esteem: Discriminant validity of related constructs in theory and data. , 1985 .

[19]  Avshalom Caspi,et al.  Bullying Victimization Uniquely Contributes to Adjustment Problems in Young Children: A Nationally Representative Cohort Study , 2006, Pediatrics.

[20]  E. Waters,et al.  Attention structure, sociometric status, and dominance: Interrelations, behavioral correlates, and relationships to social competence. , 1981 .

[21]  D. Mackinnon.  Introduction to Statistical Mediation Analysis , 2008 .

[22]  João R. Daniel,et al.  Hierarchical models of social competence in preschool children: a multisite, multinational study. , 2009, Child development.

[23]  António J. Santos,et al.  Longitudinal Analyses of a Hierarchical Model of Peer Social Competence for Preschool Children: Structural Fidelity and External Correlates , 2011, Merrill-Palmer Quarterly.

[24]  Everett Waters,et al.  Social Competence as a Developmental Construct , 1983 .

[25]  E. Menesini,et al.  Shame and guilt as behaviour regulators: Relationships with bullying, victimization and prosocial behaviour , 2008 .

[26]  F. Goossens,et al.  New Participant Role Scales: comparison between various criteria for assigning roles and indications for their validity , 2006 .

[27]  S. Caravita,et al.  Main and moderated effects of moral cognition and status on bullying and defending. , 2012, Aggressive behavior.

[28]  Michele L. Ybarra,et al.  Differentiating youth who are bullied from other victims of peer-aggression: the importance of differential power and repetition. , 2014, The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

[29]  A. Costabile,et al.  A Cross-National Comparison of Aggressors, Victims and Defenders in Preschools in England, Spain and Italy , 2011, The Spanish journal of psychology.

[30]  C. Salmivalli.  Bullying and the peer group: A review , 2010 .

[31]  Amy Bellmore,et al.  Social skills and social competence in interactions with peers , 2011 .

[32]  M. Camodeca,et al.  Aggression, social cognitions, anger and sadness in bullies and victims. , 2005, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[33]  J. Block,et al.  The Role of Ego-Control and Ego-Resiliency in the Organization of Behavior , 1980 .

[34]  D. Hand,et al.  Advising on research methods: A consultant's companion , 2011 .

[35]  S. Perren,et al.  Social behavior and peer relationships of victims, bully-victims, and bullies in kindergarten. , 2006, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[36]  C. Salmivalli,et al.  Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group , 1998 .

[37]  Inge B. Wissink,et al.  Associations of Peer Acceptance and Perceived Popularity With Bullying and Victimization in Early Adolescence , 2010 .

[38]  Gianluca Gini,et al.  Active Defending and Passive Bystanding Behavior in Bullying: The Role of Personal Characteristics and Perceived Peer Pressure , 2010, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[39]  G. Altoé,et al.  Determinants of adolescents' active defending and passive bystanding behavior in bullying. , 2008, Journal of adolescence.

[40]  Pete Smith,et al.  Social cognition and bullying: Social inadequacy or skilled manipulation? , 1999 .

[41]  Philip Smith,et al.  Psychological correlates of peer victimisation in preschool: Social cognitive skills, executive function and attachment profiles , 2005 .

[42]  C. Salmivalli,et al.  Early Adolescents’ Participation in Bullying: Is ToM Involved? , 2010 .

[43]  P. Bentler,et al.  Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis : Conventional criteria versus new alternatives , 1999 .

[44]  J. Ormel,et al.  Preschool Behavioral and Social-Cognitive Problems as Predictors of (Pre)adolescent Disruptive Behavior , 2007, Child psychiatry and human development.

[45]  T. Olthof.  Anticipated feelings of guilt and shame as predictors of early adolescents' antisocial and prosocial interpersonal behaviour , 2012 .

[46]  B. Vaughn,et al.  Social competence, social support, and attachment: demarcation of construct domains, measurement, and paths of influence for preschool children attending Head Start. , 1998, Child development.

[47]  E. Andreou,et al.  Bully/Victim Problems Among Preschool Children: a Review of Current Research Evidence , 2011 .

[48]  Kenneth H. Rubin,et al.  Peer Interactions, Relationships, and Groups , 2007 .

[49]  M. Mosher,et al.  Relational and overt aggression in preschool. , 1997, Developmental psychology.

[50]  G. Gini.  Social cognition and moral cognition in bullying: What's wrong? , 2006 .

[51]  Peter K. Smith,et al.  Bullying as a group process: An adaptation of the participant role approach , 1999 .