Child Well-Being and Peer Bullying Victimization in Post-Communist Countries: Moderating Effects of Youth Participation in Decision-Making in Family and Schools

Current literature is more concerned with the risk factors for bullying outcomes, and less attention is paid to buffering factors preventing adverse outcomes. Taking protective factors into account in anti-bullying program development can contribute to developing more proactive than reactive programming. Considering the moderate effectiveness of existing anti-bullying programs, the integration of new programming elements, such as youth participation in decision-making, should be tested. The goal of this study is to assess moderating effect of youth’s subjective perception of participation in decision-making in family and school as buffering factors against the negative effects of bullying on child subjective well-being in four post-communist countries—Estonia, Poland, Romania, and Russia. This study is based on the subset of data from the third wave of the Children’s World survey that consists of 4261 children 10–14 years of age. Our findings indicate that the children with bullying victimization who experience more participation in decision-making in their families and schools are less likely to have decreased well-being. The results of this study underline the importance of increasing effectiveness of anti-bullying efforts in a manner that can empower youths.