Parenting styles association with bullying among secondary school students in Kuching district, Sarawak, 2009

schOOl bullying can create a barrier for many young people to develop into well-adjusted adults. Information on bullying in Malaysia are still scarce especially in the East Malaysian region. This study ai ms to determine the prevalence of bullying among secondary school students in Kuching and to examine the predictors of bullying. Specifically, the study was interested to know if parenting styles were predictors of bUllYinv A cross-sectional survey among 203 randomly selected Form 1 to Form 4 students was carried out in 4 schools in Kuching district, Sarawak. Self-completed bullying questionnaire was used for the students while both their parents responded to a Parenting Style Dimension Questionnaire. In terms of participants' ethnicity, 45.3% (n=92) were Chinese, 43.3% (n=88) were Malay, 4.4% (n=9) were Bidayuh, 3.4% (n=7) were Iban and the remaining 3.4% (n=7) were of other races. Males accounted for 46.3% while 53.7% were females. 82% (n=167) of the student respondents were found to be bullies. The distribution of the bullies followed the gender and ethnic distribution among the respondents. 53% (n=88) of the bullies were females and 47% (n=79) were males. The ethnic distribution of the bullies were: Chinese, 46.3% (n=78); Malays, 44.3% (n=74); other ethnic groups, 9% (n=15). Authoritative parenting styles, was found to be the most common parenting style among the parents with 93.6% of mothers and 90.6% of fathers practicing it. None of the parenting styles was seen as a predictor to bullying behaviour. However age 15 years old, Malay and Chinese ethnic group as well as having mothers of medium level of education were seen as significant predictors to bullying behaviour among the respondents. There is a high prevalence of bullying among the participants of the study. There is a need for studies in more schools to know the actual prevalence and the associated factors of bullying among secondary schools in Kuching. Other parenting factors should also be examined as the findings may be useful in planning of interventions and prevention programme against bullying behaviour among secondary school students