The Mediating Role of Parental Psychological Aggression and Physical Punishment in the Relationship of Parenting Styles with Bullying

Background and Previous studies have shown that parents play an important role in the behavioral problems of children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of parental psychological aggression and physical punishment in relationship of parenting styles with bullying.
The present study is descriptive and correlational. The statistical population consisted of all first grade high school students of Astaneh­-Ashrafiyeh city in the academic year of 2016-2017. 295 students (150 female and 145 male) were selected using multistage cluster sampling method. The participants completed the parenting styles questionnaire (Oliva et al, 2007), discipline dimensions inventory (Straus & Fauchier, 2007), and bullying intervention questionnaire (Brigui et al, 2012). Data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling.
The findings indicated that parental psychological aggression and physical punishment in the relationship between parental styles and bullying have indirect effects and the role of mediation in the relationship between parenting styles and adolescence’ bullying.
The results of this study showed that parenting styles can affect children's behaviors. Therefore, there should be interventions to inform parents about the importance of their parenting role. Therefore, there should be interventions to inform parents about the importance of their parenting styles.