The roles of bullying involvement and parental warmth in non-suicidal self-harm and suicidal ideation among adolescents from residential program
| Pages | 202-213 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-04-2016-0014 |
| Date | 07 November 2016 |
| Published date | 07 November 2016 |
| Author | Michelle F. Wright |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Criminal psychology,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice |
The roles of bullying involvement and
parental warmth in non-suicidal self-harm
and suicidal ideation among adolescents
from residential program
Michelle F. Wright
Michelle F. Wright is a
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
at the Department of
Psychology, Masaryk
University, Brno, Czech
Republic.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the association of bullying perpetration and victimization
to non-suicidal self-harm and suicidal ideation among 93 boys from residential programs. Parental warmth
was also examined as a moderator in these associations.
Design/methodology/approach –Participants completed questionnaires on their bullying involvement,
parental warmth, non-suicidal self-harm, and suicidal ideation.
Findings –The findings revealed that bullying perpetration and victimization were both associated positively
with non-suicidal self-harm and suicidal ideation, while parental warmth was related negatively to non-suicidal
self-harm and suicidal ideation. In addition, the association between victimization and non-suicidal self-harm
was stronger at lower levels of parental warmth, while these patterns were weaker at higher levels of parental
warmth. Similar patterns were found for victimization and suicidal ideation.
Originality/value –The results indicate the significance of examining non-suicidal self-harm and suicidal
ideation in relation to bullying involvement among adolescents from residential programs as well as the
importantrole of parentsin mitigating the negativeeffects associatedwith bullyingperpetration and victimization.
Keywords Self-harm, Bullying, Victimization, Parenting, Suicidal ideation, Parental warmth
Paper type Research paper
Bullying is defined as being exposed to negative actions, repeatedly and overtime, by one or
more people (Olweus, 1993). Ample attention has been given to understanding bullying
perpetration and victimization among adolescents in school settings. Such behaviors might
include social exclusion, being subjected to derogatory comments, and being hit, kicked,
shoved, or punched . Furthermore, bullying can take various forms, inc luding physical (e.g.
kicking, hitting, p unching), relational (e.g. dam age to someone’s relationships or social status),
or verbal (e.g. insults, teasing, put downs; Crick and Grotpeter, 1995). The research on this
topic reveals that s uch adolescents have high lev els of bullying involvement as r eported by
peers and program staff (Attar-Schwartz, 2011; Gibbs and Sinclair, 2000; Ireland and Power,
2004; Kendrick, 2011; Morgan, 2008). Less attention has been given to studying these
behaviors and experiences among adolescents from residential placement programs.
Providing the most restrictive form of care for children and adolescents, some residential
programs are housed w ithin 24-hour facilities, wit h some delivering mental health tr eatment
(Burns et al., 1999). Stays in these facilities can be short-term or long-term. Some of the
children and adole scents in residential program s have emotional and behaviora l disorders.
These children and adolescents are usually from families with high levels of dysfunction and
Received 6 April 2016
Revised 5 August 2016
5 September 2016
Accepted 5 September 2016
PAGE202
j
JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY
j
VOL. 6 NO. 4 2016, pp. 202-213, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2009-3829 DOI 10.1108/JCP-04-2016-0014
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