ERIC Number: EJ1460471
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1053-1890
EISSN: EISSN-1573-3319
Available Date: 2024-07-16
Breaking the Link: Parental Attachment as a Moderator in the Relationship between Callous-Unemotional Traits and Cyber-Bullying
Nafsika Antoniadou1,3; Constantinos M. Kokkinos2
Child & Youth Care Forum, v54 n1 p207-225 2025
Background: Children and adolescents with high callous-unemotional traits (CU) are more likely to engage in aggressive and antisocial behaviours, such as cyber-bullying, but the relationship is not direct, as it may be influenced by other factors. Objective: In the absence of substantial supporting evidence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the moderating effect of maternal and paternal attachment, namely dependency and availability, in the relationship of CU traits with cyber-bullying. Methods: The convenience sample consisted of 331 elementary and junior high school Greek students who voluntarily completed an anonymous questionnaire assessing cyber-bullying, attachment with each parent (dependence and availability) and CU traits (callousness, unemotionality, uncaringness). Results: Cyber-bullying correlated positively with CU traits, and attachment negatively with cyber-bullying and CU traits. Boys scored higher in cyber-bullying, callousness, and uncaringness, and girls in mother availability and dependence. Mother availability, mother dependence, and father availability moderated the association between callousness and cyber-bullying. Conclusions: Mother availability, mother dependence, and father availability may buffer the linkages between callousness and cyber-bullying. While promising, longitudinal and intervention designs targeting these processes are needed to show that strengthening parent-child attachment may be an effective strategy for reducing externalized problems such as cyber-bullying.
Descriptors: Children, Adolescents, Elementary School Students, Junior High School Students, Bullying, Computer Mediated Communication, Personality Traits, Caring, Emotional Response, Correlation, Attachment Behavior, Gender Differences, Parent Child Relationship, Foreign Countries
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link-springer-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Greece
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1University of Ioannina, Department of Primary Education, School of Education, Ioannina, Greece; 2Democritus University of Thrace, Department of Primary Education, School of Education Sciences, Alexandroupolis, Greece; 3Hellenic Open University, School of Humanities, Patras, Greece