In brief

The BASIS study investigates the relationship between parent-child attachment, social behaviour and bullying in lower secondary school students and examines whether a close teacher-student relationship can compensate for the negative effects of weak parental attachment. The longitudinal study comprises two measurement points in the period from May to July 2025. Students of special education can participate as part of their BA or MA thesis. Their tasks include the acquisition of the required school classes, the implementation and completion of the data collection and participation in an estimated four project meetings. The prerequisite for access to the complete data set is a complete survey of your own.

Update 17.02.2025: 30 students can currently write a thesis as part of this project (see below). Participation in the information meeting (10/03/2025, 16:00) is a necessary prerequisite, but even then we cannot guarantee you a place to work on this project.

Initial situation

Numerous international studies show a connection between the quality of attachment to parents and a) problems in social behaviour (e.g. Jacobsen & Hofmann, 1997) and b) bullying behaviour among pupils (e.g. Balan et al., 2018; Kokkonos et al., 2013).

At the same time, studies suggest that a weak parent-child bond can be compensated for by a strong teacher-student relationship. This relationship can serve as a protective factor and is influenced by various teacher characteristics such as classroom management, sensitivity and humour . A good relationship between teacher and child could therefore reduce emotional and behavioural difficulties in children from conflict-ridden families (e.g. Caputi et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2013) and act as a protective factor against problematic behaviour (Talty et al., 2023). Children with a positive teacher-student relationship are likely to be less involved in bullying processes and exhibit fewer behavioural problems - regardless of their family attachment experiences. The main aim of the BASIS project is to empirically test these assumptions.

Design and research question

The BASIS study is a longitudinal study with two measurement time points (MZP) approximately eight weeks apart in lower secondary school. The data collection is mainly carried out digitally using (school-owned) tablets.

The project investigates the following overarching topics

1. Can the relationship between bullying and the quality of attachment to parents also be replicated in the German school system (analogous to Eilts et al., 2023)?
2. Does the students' relationship with the teacher have an effect on the relationship between bullying and the quality of attachment to parents?
3. Does the teacher's sensitivity influence the relationship between the quality of attachment to parents and the pupils' social behaviour?

Who can take part in the BASIS study?

In principle, all special education students who wish to write their BA or MA thesis and research project as part of the study and who do not need the grade for their thesis until winter 2025/26 at the earliest can participate.

Students who need their grade as early as 1 September 2025 (e.g. for the transition to teacher training) are expressly advised not to participate in the BASIS project.

What is expected of the students?

For each class, a survey effort of three teaching hours is planned (MZP1: two teaching hours, MZP2: one teaching hour), plus travelling to and from class. The amount of time required varies depending on the examination and is planned as follows:

• BA thesis: 3 classes
• MA thesis (+ research project if applicable): 6 classes

Data collection is expected to take place between May and July 2025 (before the summer holidays).

In which schools will the data be collected?

The survey can take place in one or more different schools. It is important that the data comes from lower secondary level. In order to avoid a one-sided focus on a specific type of school (e.g. Hauptschule, Realschule, Gymnasium, Gesamtschule), a balanced mix of school types is aimed for.

All students are assigned a specific type of school in which the data collection is to be carried out. A later swap is possible and can make sense in many cases. Students with the same type of school can join forces to find suitable schools and organise the data collection together.

Separate survey - joint evaluation!

In the BASIS study, the data is collected separately but analysed jointly. All participants have access to the entire data set under certain conditions. This is advantageous for everyone, as it allows us to work with a comprehensive data set that can lead to easily interpretable results. It also opens up further questions and possibilities for analysis.

The prerequisite for access to the entire data set is the complete collection and submission of one's own data. Students who do not collect any or incomplete data must work exclusively with their own data.

Tasks in brief

• Acquiring the required number of school classes for the assigned school type
• Carrying out and completing the data collection on both measurement dates
• Participation in probably four mandatory project meetings between March and July 2025 (probably on Mondays)

Your benefits

• Support in developing your own questions for the final thesis based on the data collected in the project
• Discussion of organisational and content-related questions as part of the research colloquia
• Access to relevant research materials
• Provision of research materials for the final thesis

Basic literature

Caputi, M., Forresi, B., Giani, L., & Scaini, S. (2022). Cooperation with Teachers as a Mediator of the Relationship between Family Conflict and Children's Psychological Difficulties. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013151.

Eilts, J., Wilke, J., Von Düring, U., & Bäker, N. (2023). Bullying perpetration: the role of attachment, emotion regulation and empathy. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 28, 219 - 233. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632752.2023.2267230.

Balan, R., Dobrean, A., & Balazsi, R. (2018). Indirect effects of parental and peer attachment on bullying and victimisation among adolescents: The role of negative automatic thoughts. Aggressive Behaviour, 44, 561-570. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21775.

Kokkinos, C. (2013). Bullying and Victimisation in Early Adolescence: Associations With Attachment Style and Perceived Parenting. Journal of School Violence, 12, 174 - 192. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2013.766134.

Innamorati, M., Parolin, L., Tagini, A., Santona, A., Bosco, A., De Carli, P., Palmisano, G., Pergola, F., & Sarracino, D. (2018). Attachment, Social Value Orientation, Sensation Seeking, and Bullying in Early Adolescence. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00239.

Nikiforou, M., Georgiou, S., & Stavrinides, P. (2013). Attachment to Parents and Peers as a Parameter of Bullying and Victimisation. , 2013, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/484871.

Huang, J. (2023). Impact of attachment style and school bullying. SHS Web of Conferences. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202318003024.

Lee, J., Cheung, H., Chee, G., & Chai, V. (2021). The Moderating Roles of Empathy and Attachment on the Association Between Latent Class Typologies of Bullying Involvement and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Singapore. School Mental Health, 13, 518 - 534. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-021-09411-3.

Murphy, T., Laible, D., & Augustine, M. (2017). The Influences of Parent and Peer Attachment on Bullying. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26, 1388 - 1397. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0663-2.

Talty, A., Speyer, L., Eisner, M., Ribeaud, D., Murray, A., & Obsuth, I. (2023). The role of student-teacher relationships in the association between negative parenting practices and emotion dynamics - Combining longitudinal and ecological momentary assessment data. Journal of research on adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12874.

Wang, M., Brinkworth, M., & Eccles, J. (2013). Moderating effects of teacher-student relationship in adolescent trajectories of emotional and behavioural adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 49 4, 690-705. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027916.