Children who are mollycoddled by overprotective parents are at greater risk of being bullied, a large study has revealed.
The review of research into childhood bullying, which compiled data from more than 200,000 children, suggested that poor parenting increased the risk of children being both victims and perpetrators of bullying. In contrast, warm but firm parenting reduced the risk of being bullied by peers.
The study authors called for anti-bullying intervention programmes to extend their focus beyond schools to focus on positive parenting within families and to start before children enter school.
The study, published today in the journal Child Abuse & Neglect, categorised behaviours such as abuse, maladaptive parenting and overprotection as negative parenting behaviour.
Authoritative parenting, parent-child communication, parental involvement, support, warmth