Qualitative Assesment Tools (Parents)

All parents were interviewed to gain an understanding of their relationships with their children, the interactions among family members and their parenting style. The objective was to explore how the family environment might affect the aggression or victimisation of the children. In addition, the parents’ own understanding of their children helped the researchers understand peer relationships and the children’s behaviour in school. The interviews with the parents included the following topics:

1. Background information (e.g. which family members the child lived with).
2. The parent’s understanding of their child (e.g. whether they lost their temper easily).
3. The parental relationship (e.g. conflicts with the child).
4. Their parenting approach (e.g. the number of hours spent communicating with the child).
5. The child’s relationship with his or her siblings (e.g. whether they were aggressive with their brothers and sisters).