Racial Differences in the Applicability of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model for Adolescent Bullying Involvement

Objectives: Social scientists have devoted much theoretical and empirical attention to studying the correlates of bullying perpetration and victimization. Much less attention has been devoted to studying race differences in the correlates of bullying behaviors despite the importance of these when designing effective and focused prevention and intervention programs. Methods: Utilizing data from the 2009 to 2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) study in the United States, this study applies Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model to bullying in order to examine how various interrelated systems are associated with bullying perpetration, victimization, and their concordance in a nationally representative sample of adolescents. Results: Findings shown important similarities, as well as some differences, across race in how key parental and peer relationships relate to aspects of involvement in bullying. Directions for future research are noted.