Bullying for Children in Social Care: The Role of Interpersonal Relationships

Children living in social care represent an extremely vulnerable group in society, with an increased risk of strained and unstable relationships, and increased bullying involvement. With the number of children living in social care in the UK increasing, there is an emphasis on better understanding why these children are at risk, and how we can best support them. Yet, the existing literature in this field is limited: although it is understood that these children are at risk of bullying involvement, it is unclear why they are at risk, or what role their interpersonal relationships may play in their bullying involvement. This research explored this issue, focusing on both traditional bullying and cyberbullying perpetration and victimisation. Secondary data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey was analysed, utilising the 2014 and 2018 datasets. Analyses were conducted on a total of 968 British children aged 11, 13, and 15 – 498 of these were males, and 470 were female. 484 of these children lived in social care (residential care and foster care), and 484 lived with biological family members. It was found that children living in social care were at an increased risk of bullying involvement regardless of their age and gender, contradicting the well-established age and gender differences seen in non-care samples. Moreover, children living in social care reported significantly poorer interpersonal relationships; these relationships – particularly those with classmates – mediated the relationship between living in social care and bullying involvement. The results will be discussed in relation to each bullying type, with cross-time replications between the datasets. These findings provide a unique insight into how living in social care impacts bullying involvement, and suggestions for how teachers and schools may support these vulnerable children are made.