Adolescents who perceive their parents to be loving and supportive are less likely to engage in cyberbullying, according to a new study conducted by NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing (September). The conclusions published in the International Journal of Bullying Prevention, are especially relevant given the shift to online learning necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Citing data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) Health Behavior in School-Aged Children survey, the researchers analysed responses from 12,642 American pre-teens and teens (ages 11-15 years old). The researchers found that adolescents who perceived their parents as loving, are less likely to engage in cyberbullying. “Our findings point to the importance of parents’ emotional support as a factor likely to influence whether teens cyberbully — and more importantly, it is how teens perceive the support they receive from their parents,” says Laura Grunin, a doctoral student at NYU Meyers and the study’s lead author.