Lilik Sriyanti, Abi Fa'izzarahman Prabawa, Eni Rindi Antika, Salwa Mahalle
Bullying among adolescents has emerged as an increasingly complex social issue, driven by the rapid growth of social media use and shifting family dynamics in the digital era. This study examines the associations of family climate (FC) and social media exposure (SME) with bullying behavior (BB) among adolescents within the socio-cultural context of Indonesia. Grounded in ecological–systemic and social learning perspectives, the research seeks to explain how family relational patterns and digital interactions jointly relate to adolescents’ aggressive tendencies both offline and online. A quantitative cross-sectional correlational design was employed, involving 1,006 junior high school students recruited through non-probability convenience sampling via an online survey distributed to multiple schools in Central Java, Indonesia. Data were collected using three validated scales: the Family Climate Scale (α = .884), the Social Media Exposure Scale (α = .757), and the Bullying Behavior Scale (α = .921). Multiple linear regression showed that FC and SME were jointly and significantly associated with bullying behavior (F = 583.844, p < .001), accounting for 53.8% of the variance (R2 = .538; Adj. R2 = .537). SME displayed a significant positive association with BB (B = .410; β = .274; p < .001), indicating that greater exposure to social media is linked to higher levels of bullying behavior, whereas FC showed a strong negative association (B = -.519; β = -.594; p < .001), consistent with the view that a supportive family climate functions as a protective correlate. The findings underscore the intertwined roles of offline and online environments in adolescents’ aggressive behaviors and support school-based interventions that involve parents, promote digital literacy, and strengthen everyday family communication to prevent bullying. Copyright (c) 2026 The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Salatiga, Indonesia; Faculty of Science Education and Psychology, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia; Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam
