Trajectories of Child Maltreatment and Bullying Experiences in South Korea: Application of Latent Class Growth Analysis

Background/Purpose:

Child maltreatment has a critical impact on the lives of children. According to attachment theory, the quality of parent-child bonds determines positive or negative child outcomes. Harsh parenting may interrupt the process of establishing healthy relationship with others, whereas supportive parenting facilitates positive interpersonal relationships. Although maladaptive parenting is known as a risk factor for predicting perpetration and victimization in school bullying, there has been little consideration of its developmental influences. While empirical evidence supports the notion that different types of maltreatment lead to distinct outcomes, there is paucity of research that have considered a person-centered approach. Therefore, this study investigates the association between latent trajectories of abuse/neglect and bullying experiences from childhood to adolescence in South Korea.

 Methods:

Data from the nationally representative Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (N = 2,175; M_age = 11.5; Female = 48.4%) were used. We applied Latent Class Growth Modeling to examine trajectories of maltreatment from eight-year olds in elementary school (Wave 2) to third-teen year olds in secondary school (Wave 7). Child-reported measures of abusive and neglectful parenting consisted of four items, each. With identified latent classes as independent variables, logistic regression was conducted to predict bullying experiences (Wave 7)—school bullying, victimization and cyber violence—while controlling for gender, household income, and parental education.

 Results:

Developmental trajectories of abuse and neglect were classified into three latent groups. The “high abuse risk” group (14%) showed the highest level of abusive parenting at the early period and moderate level of neglectful parenting. The “high neglect risk” group (27.7%) was characterized by the highest level of neglect and moderate level of abuse over time, whereas the “low risk” group (58.3%) had the lowest level of child maltreatment. Results from logistic regression indicated that the “high abuse risk” group (β = 1.37, p < .001) was more likely to bully others outside, whereas “high neglect risk” group (β = 0.36, p < .05) was more likely to perpetrate in cyberspace than the “low risk” group. Further, “high abuse risk” group (β = 0.68, p < .05) was more likely to be victimized than the “low risk” group.

 Conclusions/Implications:

This study used latent class growth class analysis to identify developmental trajectories of child maltreatment. Latent groups were classified based on the response patterns of the children and showed different trajectories of parental maltreatment over time. Guided by attachment theory, we found long-term influences of parental maltreatment on child’s engagement in bullying behavior. Children who were exposed to abusive parenting were vulnerable to traditional bullying; children who were neglected tend to perpetrate in cyberspace more than children who perceived the lowest level of negative parenting. Collectively, these findings suggest experience of persistent maltreatment over a long period of time is most likely to hinder developing attachment relationships with others and result in antisocial behavior. Findings may provide insights to prevention and intervention of both traditional and online bullying policies regarding developmental trajectories of negative parenting.