Social-ecological factors associated with bullying and sexual harassment perpetration among middle school students

The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent to which family- (i.e., family social support, family violence, parental supervision, and sibling aggression perpetration) and school-related (i.e., sense of belongingness at school and school social support) factors are associated with bullying and sexual harassment perpetration, above and beyond individual-level characteristics. Participants included 359 students (68% African American, 32% White; 52% girls, 48% boys) from 5 middle schools in Illinois. Results indicated that family- and school- related variables predicted relational (6th grade: parental monitoring, sibling aggression perpetration; 8th grade: sibling aggression perpetration, school sense of belongingness) and physical bullying perpetration (6th and 8th grades: sibling aggression perpetration), as well as sexual harassment perpetration (6th grade: parental monitoring, school sense of belongingness; 8th grade: family social support, family violence, sibling aggression perpetration) across middle school. Additionally, family- and school-related variables moderated the association between both relational and physical bullying perpetration and sexual harassment perpetration (6th grade: family violence, school sense of belongingness, school social support; 8th grade: parental monitoring, family violence, sibling aggression perpetration, school sense of belongingness, school social support). The current study underscores the importance of family- and school-related factors, over and above individual-level factors, in predicting bullying and sexual harassment among middle school students. Moreover, aggressive behaviors displayed early in middle school may be precursors to later, more serious, sexually harassing behaviors. Identifying individual, as well as context-related factors, which buffer such behaviors, can contribute to the development of prevention and intervention efforts