Risk and Protective Effects of Family Socioeconomic Status and Parental Emotional Support in Asian Secondary School Students’ Bullying Victimization

Abstract

Previous research has examined students’ bullying experiences, its predictors, and the harm caused. However, the bidirectional relationship between family factors and membership in victim groups remains unclear. This study first classified students into different victim groups based on the forms and levels of bullying they experienced. On this basis, two goals were set. The first aim was to examine whether family socioeconomic status and parental emotional support help students become members of the non-victim group. The second aim was to explore intergroup differences in family socioeconomic status and parental emotional support. Data were drawn from the 2022 Vietnam survey in the Program for International Student Assessment to enhance our understanding of the role families play in anti-bullying efforts in the post-pandemic era. A total of 6,068 students in grades 7 to 10 completed questionnaires evaluating their bullying victimization, family socioeconomic status, and parental emotional support. Latent class analysis categorized students into victim and non-victim groups. Of the 6,068 students, 91.8% reported no bullying experiences, while the remaining were victims. The most prevalent forms of bullying were mockery and robbery. The latent class model integrated with logistic regression revealed that parental emotional support helped students transition to the non-victim group. The latent class model combined with linear regression indicated that family socioeconomic status and parental emotional support were more beneficial for members of the non-victim group. The findings offer insights into anti-bullying practices. Since being made fun of is a prominent indicator of victim group membership, school systems should pay close attention to students frequently mocked by their peers. Schools should also focus more on students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, gaining parental support is crucial in efforts to prevent bullying in schools.