Association between school bullying and mental health of adolescent students in low-income and middle-income countries / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To understand the incidence of school bullying and its influencing factors among adolescents in low-income and middle-income countries, and to explore the association between school bullying and mental health of adolescent students, so as to provide reference for prevention and control of school bullying and mental health intervention.@*Methods@#Data was obtained from the 2009-2015 Global School Student Health Survey from 19 low-income and middle-income countries (n=22 963). Binary Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of school bullying, and multiple linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between school bullying and mental health.@*Results@#The average score of students mental health was(5.75±2.09), and approximately 35.1% of adolescent students reported suffering from school bullying. The rates of school bullying among students in low-income and middle-income countries were 39.4% amd 34.3%, respectively. Students with lower grades, overweight, poor family economic status, low family learning and psychological support, poor perceived family relationship, more truancy, and poor relationship with classmates were more likely to suffer from school bullying(P<0.05). Exposure to school bullying was positively associated with adverse mental health outcomes for women(B=1.27, P<0.01).@*Conclusion@#Not only were school bullying more common in low-income countries, but also school bullying had a greater negative impact on the mental health of girls. We need to pay more attention to school bullying among adolescent students, especially in low-income countries and girls, with cost-effective interventions to reduce or mitigate the consequences of bullying.