Less time with fathers ‘can lead kids to bullying’

WASHINGTON - Children who feel they do not get to spend sufficient time with their fathers are more likely to become bullies, new research suggests.

“Our behavior is driven by our perception of our world, so if children feel they are not getting enough time and attention from parents then those feelings have to go somewhere and it appears in interaction with their peers,” said Vanderbilt University sociologist Andre Christie-Mizell.

His study looked at two questions - “What is the relationship between the number of hours parents work and adolescent bullying behavior?” and “What is the relationship between bullying behavior and youth’s perceptions of the amount of time their parents spend with them?”

What Christie-Mizell found is that it was children’s perception of how much time they spent with their fathers that had the most impact on bullying behavior.

Christie-Mizell studied the behavior and perceptions of 687 children who were 10 to 14 years old and living in two-parent homes in 2000. He measured their bullying behavior using a scale based on the Behavior Problem Index (BPI), a 28-item scale designed to assess typical childhood behavior syndromes. He also looked at their parents’ work hours, with about 40 percent of the mothers and 47 percent of their spouses/partners working full-time - on average 35 to 40 hours per week - and 15 percent of mothers and 50 percent of their spouses/partners working overtime - more than 40 hours per week.

The study has been published in the journal Youth and Society. (ANI)