The influence of harsh parenting on adolescents' bullying: the moderating role of perceived class climate and gender

Abstract The present study examined the moderating effects of perceived class climate in the relations between harsh parenting and adolescents’ bullying and parent and adolescent gender differences in the moderating mechanism in Chinese society. This study used a sample of 400 middle school students and both their parents in central China. We constructed a Structural Equation Model to explore the relation between harsh parenting and adolescents’ bullying and the moderating role of perceived class climate. Our findings revealed that maternal but not paternal harsh parenting attitude was found to significantly predict boys’ bullying. Moreover, perceived class climate exacerbated the relations between paternal harsh parenting behavior and girls’ bullying. The findings provide partial support for the “healthy context paradox” and highlight the importance of considering how the broader class context may interact with harsh parenting to influence the physical and mental health of adolescents.