Abstract

Bullying behavior among children has become a matter of concern to all stakeholders. While studies have confirmed an increased prevalence of bullying behavior among school children in Nigeria, not much is known about the contribution of parental practices to the development of the behaviour in children. This study, therefore, investigated the relationship between parenting practices and bullying behavior among primary school pupils in Ibadan North Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria. An ex-post facto research was adopted. Two instruments: “Sociometric Peer Nomination” and “Parenting Practices Assessment Scale (PPAS)” were used. Data collected was analyzed using multiple regression. The composite relationship (R=0.670) of parental practices investigated with bullying behavior was positive and significant (P<0.05). Parental affection and supervision were found to have highest contributions (β = -0.806 and 0.678) respectively, to bullying behavior. Parenting education that teaches positive parenting skills should be initiated in order to have less incidence of bullying behavior.