THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED PARENTAL OVERPROTECTION AND BULLYING VICTIMIZATION AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

The current paper sought to examine the association between perceived parental overprotection and bullying victimization among university students in Pakistan. Bullying is an increasing concern among young adults, and parenting styles, particularly overprotection, may have a substantial impact on students' social and emotional wellbeing. The overall sample consisted of 300 university students (50% men, 50% women) aged 18 to 25 years (M = 22.41, SD = 2.81), selected using a stratified random sampling procedure. Data were gathered using two standardized measures: the Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran - Adult Version (EMBU-A; Perris, Jacobsson, Lindström, von Knorring, & Perris, 1980) for assessing perceived parental overprotection and the Bullying Victimization Scale for University Students (Khan & Khurshid, 2023) for measuring bullying victimization, both of which were administered in Urdu-translated versions. Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the variables. The findings showed that perceived parental overprotection (maternal) has a strong positive with dominance and control, aggression, and bullying victimization among university students.