An Ecological Systems Analysis of Risk and Protective Factors Related to Bullying Behaviors Among African American Adolescents in Chicago

Background and Purpose: Adolescent bullying is a concern for adolescents, parents, teachers, school officials, and the general public. Victims of bullying frequently report psychosocial distress (e.g., depression, anxiety), physical health problems, risk behaviors (e.g., substance use), and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Although a great deal of empirical studies have examined factors for bullying and victimization, few studies have explored risk and protective factors associated with bullying involvement of racial and ethnic minorities. In addition, while many studies have explored serious forms of violence (e.g., gang violence, homicide) among urban adolescents, relatively few studies have examined “less serious forms of violence”, such as bullying among these youths. The present study adopts Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems perspective and explore factors that are correlated with bullying perpetration and victimization in urban African American adolescents residing in Chicago’s Southside.

Methods: Participants consisted of 639 African American adolescents (ages 13-22) from low-income communities in Chicago’s Southside. This study used a cross-sectional research design and self-reported surveys. Correlational analysis and multivariate regression analysis were conducted after controlling for biological sex, age, and SES, and the SPSS 24 program was employed. Ecological models consist of (a) microsystem (parental monitoring, exposure to peer deviance, religious involvement and teacher support); (b) mesosystem (parental monitoring X peer deviance, teacher support X lack of parental monitoring, and peer deviance as a mediator between neighborhood disorganization and bullying); (c) exosystem (neighborhood disorganization, adults in the household arrested); and (d) macrosystem (youth employment status).

Results: At the microsystem level, findings indicated that parental monitoring and supportive teachers were negatively associated with bullying, while exposure to deviant peers and neighborhood disorganization were positively associated with bullying. At the mesosytem level, results showed that teacher support buffered the link between lack of parental monitoring and bullying, and exposure to peer deviance mediated the link between neighborhood disorganization and bullying. At the exosystem level, major results documented that adults in the household arrested was positively associated with bullying perpetration, but at the macrosystem level, our findings suggest that youth employment status was negatively related to bullying victimization.

Conclusion and Implications: The study findings emphasize the importance of school-based intervention, especially teacher support, which is the most salient protective factor for urban African American adolescents. Urban African American adolescents who reside in low resourced neighborhoods are at a heightened risk of exposure to deviant peers, which can increase their likelihood of bullying involvement. Intervention strategy that involves teachers is fundamental. Moreover, to implement the best practice, practitioners need to assess not only risk factors (i.e., exposure to deviant peers, neighborhood disorganization, and adults in the household arrested), but also protective factors (i.e., parental monitoring, supportive teachers, and employment status). Most importantly, anti-bullying intervention and prevention programs in urban schools need to take into account the unique situations of African American adolescents; to do so, it is important to not only consider the individual and microsystem levels of influence, but also the mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem levels.