Xiaoyang Liu, Ling Zhang, Yijin Wu, You Xin, Ye Wang, Xiaoyou Su
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: School bullying has become a significant educational and public health issue worldwide. Boarding secondary school students, who live within the school environment and away from familial support, are particularly vulnerable. This study aims to address this gap by examining the impact of school bullying on the mental health of boarding secondary school students and exploring the mediating roles of school belongingness and psychological resilience.
Methods: A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to survey students from 4 boarding secondary schools in Hebei Province, China. A total of 1,560 valid responses were obtained from 1,700 questionnaires distributed. Participants provided self-reported data based on the structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics summarized the data, and Chi-square tests, t-tests, and ANOVA were used to examine demographic differences. Pearson correlation analysis assessed relationships among bullying, mental health, school belongingness, and resilience. Path analysis was performed to test the hypothesized mediation model with 5000 bootstrap sampling. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0 and Amos 28.0.
Results: Abnormal mental health status was reported by 33.8% of students, with 23.3% exhibiting mild abnormalities, 8.7% moderate abnormalities, 1.3% severe abnormalities, and 0.1% exhibiting very severe abnormalities. Verbal bullying, physical bullying, and social bullying were reported by 26.9%, 10.1%, and 15.4% of students, respectively, with higher prevalence among males (P < 0.05). Students who experienced bullying showed significantly higher rates of mental health problems (P < 0.001). Mediation analysis indicated that school belongingness [β = 0.017 (0.014-0.020)] and psychological resilience [β = 0.002 (0.001-0.003)] partially mediated the effect of bullying on mental health, accounting for 35.7% and 3.2% of the total effect, respectively.
Conclusion: This study reveals the significant impact of school bullying on mental health among boarding secondary school students in Hebei Province, China. The findings underscore the critical roles of school belongingness and psychological resilience as mediators in the relationship between bullying and mental health outcomes. The study highlights the need for comprehensive intervention strategies that promote a positive school climate, strengthen student-teacher relationships and enhance peer support systems to foster a strong sense of school belongingness and resilience, ultimately improving overall student well-being.
期刊介绍:
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, the official journal of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions, is an open access, online journal that provides an international platform for rapid and comprehensive scientific communication on child and adolescent mental health across different cultural backgrounds. CAPMH serves as a scientifically rigorous and broadly open forum for both interdisciplinary and cross-cultural exchange of research information, involving psychiatrists, paediatricians, psychologists, neuroscientists, and allied disciplines. The journal focusses on improving the knowledge base for the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of mental health conditions in children and adolescents, and aims to integrate basic science, clinical research and the practical implementation of research findings. In addition, aspects which are still underrepresented in the traditional journals such as neurobiology and neuropsychology of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence are considered.