Bullying at school and bullying at home

Researchers from the Universita' degli Studi di Firenze have been looking at the links between bullying at home and bullying at school. They studied 195 children aged between 10 and 12 all of whom had a sibling born within four years of them. The study found that children with older brothers were the most victimized group. More boys than girls bullied their siblings who were more likely to be younger than them. In the girls bullying was related more to the quality of their relationship with their sibling than to any age difference. Overall high levels of conflict and low leves of empathy were significantly related to sibling bullying and sibling victimization. Children who bullied their siblings were more likely to be bullies at school and children who were bullied by their brothers and/or sisters were also more likely to be victimized at school.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091206185410.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader