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Author: Tusinski, Karin E.
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Tusinski, Karin E.
Factors Associated with Bullying Behaviors in a Longitudinal Sample of Children
Presented: St. Louis MO, American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, November 2008
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: American Society of Criminology
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavior, Antisocial; Behavioral Problems; Bullying/Victimization; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Parent Supervision/Monitoring; Parent-Child Interaction; Peers/Peer influence/Peer relations; School Characteristics/Rating/Safety; Variables, Independent - Covariate

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Researchers have been less concerned in prior work with ‘why’ bullying occurs than they have with detecting the ‘deficits’ that the individuals involved, either as bullies and/or victims, present. More recently, research has begun to concentrate on the inherent characteristics of those involved in bullying, exploring for instance the role of self-esteem, assertiveness, and empathy, but the main focus in previous research has been on describing the prevalence of bullying and documenting the ‘perceptions’ that participants had of those involved in bullying. The present research examines in a multivariate and longitudinal context the role various factors in shaping the likelihood of being bullied, including relationship with peers, social rejection, and prior bully victimization experiences. The data used for this presentation come from the 1994 and 1996 waves of the NLSY and NLSY-C.
Bibliography Citation
Tusinski, Karin E. "Factors Associated with Bullying Behaviors in a Longitudinal Sample of Children." Presented: St. Louis MO, American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, November 2008.
2. Tusinski, Karin E.
The Causes and Consequences of Bullying
Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Missouri - Saint Louis, 2008.
Also: http://gradworks.umi.com/33/40/3340573.html
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavior, Antisocial; Behavioral Problems; Bullying/Victimization; Delinquency/Gang Activity; Parent Supervision/Monitoring; Parent-Child Interaction; Peers/Peer influence/Peer relations; School Characteristics/Rating/Safety; Variables, Independent - Covariate

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

The current research studies in a multivariate, longitudinal context the factors that contribute to bully offending and bully victimization. This dissertation addresses four primary issues: First, it reassesses current research on the basic descriptive elements of the nature and extent of bullying behavior. Second, this dissertation aims to increase the understanding of the factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of being bullied. Researchers have been less concerned in prior work with 'why' bullying occurs than they have with detecting the 'deficits' that the individuals involved, either as bullies or victims, present. The present research advances the literature by examining the role of various factors in shaping the likelihood of being bullied, including relationships with peers, parental influence, school safety, and prior bully victimization experiences. Third, this research goes beyond prior work by developing and testing theoretically informed models of bully offending. The models draw heavily from the literature on bullying as well as the more general literature on delinquency and aggression, but an important focus is addressing the consequences of bully victimization, or in other words whether adolescents who are bullied are more likely to subsequently bully others. Fourth, this dissertation examines whether bullying and general offending are separate facets of childhood problems. Past research has linked bullying to offending, however, identifying the inter-relationship of the two phenomena has been neglected.

Previously documented correlates of general victimization and offending serve as a conceptual framework for the models presented. These elements were tested to determine if common covariates of general offending (vandalism, stealing, hurting someone) influence bullying behaviors as well.

Data for this dissertation are derived from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) and National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Ch ild Sample (NLSY-C). The analysis focuses on children in elementary and middle schools from 1994 to 1996 (N = 959). The age range in 1994 (Time 1) was from 10 to 12 years old and two years older in 1996 (Time 2). When investigating the duration of roles over time, results revealed that bullying behaviors were more persistent over time than general offending behaviors. A significant and strong predictor of bullying at Time 2 is having been a bullied victim at Time 1. Few of the criminological measures or other covariates have any significant influence on either bully victimization or bully offending.

Findings also indicated that bullying and general offending were qualitatively distinct phenomena. Neither prior general offending nor current general offending is a significant predictor of bully victimization or bully offending. Furthermore, the common correlates of general offending are not correlated with bully behaviors. The current study found that measures associated with criminological theories (school, parents, and peers) were not associated with bullying measures.

Bibliography Citation
Tusinski, Karin E. The Causes and Consequences of Bullying. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Missouri - Saint Louis, 2008..