The relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students: the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions

Abstract Purpose This study examined the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions in the relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students. Methods A survey was conducted on 1281 middle school students using the Parental Phubbing Scale, Family clo...

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Main Authors: Ganggang Pang, Caixia Wang, Cheng Kang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:BMC Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02671-7
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author Ganggang Pang
Caixia Wang
Cheng Kang
author_facet Ganggang Pang
Caixia Wang
Cheng Kang
author_sort Ganggang Pang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Purpose This study examined the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions in the relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students. Methods A survey was conducted on 1281 middle school students using the Parental Phubbing Scale, Family closeness Scale, Negative Emotion Scale, and Bullying Behavior Questionnaire. Results (1) Parental phubbing was significantly and positively related with bullying behavior in middle school students; (2) Parental phubbing was related with bullying behavior in middle school students through the separate mediating effects of family closeness and negative emotions, as well as their sequential chain mediating effect. Conclusions This study revealed the mechanism of parental phubbing on bullying behavior of middle school students, which can effectively reduce bullying behavior in schools by enhancing family closeness and improving students’ emotional state, and provides empirical evidence for the development of interventions.
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spelling doaj-art-030f29e7a45844cbbb59de1286856a4f2025-08-20T03:06:55ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832025-04-0113111010.1186/s40359-025-02671-7The relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students: the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotionsGanggang Pang0Caixia Wang1Cheng Kang2Qiaoshan Middle SchoolHuangling Middle SchoolCollege of Teacher Education, Tianshui Normal UniversityAbstract Purpose This study examined the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions in the relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students. Methods A survey was conducted on 1281 middle school students using the Parental Phubbing Scale, Family closeness Scale, Negative Emotion Scale, and Bullying Behavior Questionnaire. Results (1) Parental phubbing was significantly and positively related with bullying behavior in middle school students; (2) Parental phubbing was related with bullying behavior in middle school students through the separate mediating effects of family closeness and negative emotions, as well as their sequential chain mediating effect. Conclusions This study revealed the mechanism of parental phubbing on bullying behavior of middle school students, which can effectively reduce bullying behavior in schools by enhancing family closeness and improving students’ emotional state, and provides empirical evidence for the development of interventions.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02671-7Parental phubbingBullying behaviorFamily closenessNegative emotions
spellingShingle Ganggang Pang
Caixia Wang
Cheng Kang
The relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students: the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions
BMC Psychology
Parental phubbing
Bullying behavior
Family closeness
Negative emotions
title The relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students: the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions
title_full The relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students: the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions
title_fullStr The relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students: the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions
title_full_unstemmed The relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students: the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions
title_short The relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students: the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions
title_sort relationship between parental phubbing and bullying behavior in middle school students the mediating role of family closeness and negative emotions
topic Parental phubbing
Bullying behavior
Family closeness
Negative emotions
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02671-7
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