Examining Childhood Maltreatment and School Bullying Among Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study From Anhui Province in China.

Although a body of research has established the relationship between childhood maltreatment and bullying in Western culture backgrounds, few studies have examined the association between childhood maltreatment experiences and bullying in China. Moreover, to date, the relationship between multiple types of childhood maltreatment and cyber bullying is poorly understood. This study examined the association between multiple types of childhood maltreatment (physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect) and multiple forms of school bullying (physical, verbal, relational, and cyber). A cross-sectional study using three-stage random cluster-sampling approach was conducted in Tongling, Chuzhou, and Fuyang, in Anhui Province. Self-reported questionnaires were completed by 5,726 middle school students to assess their school bullying involvement and childhood maltreatment experiences. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between each single type of childhood maltreatment and each single form of school bullying. Each type of childhood maltreatment was associated with increased risk for involvement in each form of bullying as bullies, victims, and bully-victims. Specifically, both childhood physical neglect and emotional neglect were associated with increased risk for involvement in each form of school bullying. Each type of childhood maltreatment was associated with involvement in cyber bullying. Students who experienced multiple types of childhood maltreatment seem to report more forms of school bullying. Furthermore, multiple forms of school bullying caused the co-occurrence of several forms of school bullying. Our results indicated a significant association between school bullying and childhood maltreatment among adolescents. Interventions to reduce school bullying encompassing prevention toward childhood maltreatment might get better results in China.

Wang GF ，Jiang L ，Wang LH ，Hu GY ，Fang Y ，Yuan SS ，Wang XX ，Su PY ... -  《-》

Childhood maltreatment with school bullying behaviors in Chinese adolescents: A cross-sectional study.

Although childhood maltreatment and school bullying are common among Chinese adolescents, their possible connection remains severely under-discussed in this population. This study primarily aims to explore the association between childhood maltreatment experience and school bullying behaviors in a large sample of Chinese teenagers. A school-based sampling survey was implemented with 2579 adolescents in southwest China. Self-administered questionnaire was used to collect relevant information form the participants. Binary Logistic regression models were adopted to estimate the crude and adjusted associations between childhood maltreatment experience and school bullying involvement in general, as well as between different types of child maltreatment and school bullying. Multivariate Logistic regression models revealed that, for adolescents who had experienced any type of childhood maltreatment, their risk of implicating into school bullying significantly increased (OR=1.75, 95% CI: 1.41-2.16). Further analysis revealed that, for all types of childhood maltreatment and school bullying, only child abuse showed prominent association with bullying victimization: adolescents who reported a history of sexual abuse and emotional abuse were found 4.31 (95% CI: 2.79-6.68) and 2.11 (95% CI: 1.32-3.39) folds of odds for bullying victimization. However, the dose-response association was not apparent between the severity of child abuse and bullying victimization based on subgroup analysis of abused participants. Childhood maltreatment, especially sexual abuse and emotional abuse, were significantly associated with increased risk of school bullying victimization among Chinese adolescents. Targeted intervention measures should be designed and implemented to protect the abused adolescents from being bullied at school.

Xiao Y ，Jiang L ，Yang R ，Ran H ，Wang T ，He X ，Xu X ，Lu J ... -  《-》

Association of child maltreatment and school bullying among Chinese adolescents: the mediating role of peer relationships.

Xie L ，Wen P ，Zhou J ，Li X ，Huang J ，Li L ... -  《BMC PUBLIC HEALTH》

Involvement in bullying and sleep disorders in Chinese early adolescents.

School bullying may cause sleep disorders in early adolescents. Here, we determined the relationship between school bullying (considering all the features of bullying involvement) and sleep disorders, which are the common problems in Chinese early adolescents. We conducted a questionnaire survey among 5,724 middle school students from Xuancheng, Hefei, and Huaibei cities in Anhui province, China. The self-report questionnaires included the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. We used latent class analysis to identify the potential subgroups of bullying behavior. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the association between school bullying and sleep disorders. Active participants in bullying interactions, including the bullies and victims, reported higher levels of sleep disorders compared with the non-active participants [Bully: physical (aOR = 2.62), verbal (aOR = 1.73), relational (aOR = 1.80), and cyber (aOR = 2.08); Victim: physical (aOR = 2.42), verbal (aOR = 2.59), relational (aOR = 2.61), and cyber (aOR = 2.81)]. A dose-response relationship was observed between the number of school bullying types and sleep disorders. In the context of bullying roles, bully-victims had the highest risk of reporting sleep disorders (aOR = 3.07, 95% CI: 2.55-3.69). We identified four potential categories of school bullying behaviors: low involvement in bullying, verbal and relational victims, medium bully-victims, and high bully-victims, and the highest frequency of sleep disorders was observed in the high bully-victims group (aOR = 4.12, 95% CI: 2.94-5.76). Our findings indicate a positive correlation between bullying roles and sleep disorders in early adolescents. Therefore, targeted intervention for sleep disorders should include an evaluation of bullying experiences.

Ding H ，Cao L ，Xu B ，Li Y ，Xie J ，Wang J ，Su P ，Wang G ... -  《Frontiers in Psychiatry》

The relationship between staff maltreatment of students and bully-victim group membership.

Khoury-Kassabri M 《-》