Journal
JOURNAL OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE
Volume 34, Issue 11, Pages 2363-2375Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
DOI: 10.1177/0886260518780777
Keywords
bullying; school-aged children; psychosocial adjustment
Funding
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- Research Funds of Renmin University of China [18XNL002]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Bullying behaviors have been studied extensively in Western countries; however, no national data exist regarding this issue in contemporary China. Using a sample of 14,536 children in Grades 6, 8, and 10 from public schools in 11 provinces or autonomous regions in rural and urban China, our study assesses the prevalence of bullying behaviors among school-aged children in China and examines the correlation between bullying and psychosocial adjustment. Results indicate that 6.3% of children reported having been bullied in the last 3 months, 2.5% of children admitted to bullying other students, and 2.2% said they were bullied and bullied others in that same time frame. More boys than girls reported bullying others and being victims of bullying. The frequency of bullying is higher in Grades 6 and 8 than in Grade 10. Rural children are more often involved in bullying than their urban counterparts. Perpetrating and being a victim of bullying are associated with poorer psychosocial adjustment, although different patterns are observed among bullies, those bullied, and those who bully others and have been bullied. Health care professionals should be sensitive to bullying behaviors when identifying students with psychosocial maladjustment. Moreover, programs designed to prevent and intervene in school bullying would benefit from a holistic approach.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available