Uncovering the prevalence, risk factors and consequences of school bullying in China's rural primary schools.

BACKGROUND: School bullying has emerged as a significant global issue with profound implications for the cognitive and non-cognitive development of children. Despite a growing body of research on bullying in urban areas, there is a dearth of comprehensive studies focusing on rural and underdeveloped regions. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the prevalence of bullying, its contributing factors, and its associations between cognitive and non-cognitive abilities of rural primary school students in underdeveloped regions. METHOD: The study utilized data from a social-emotional survey conducted among 4134 fourth-grade students from rural primary schools in three cities of Gansu province, China. Bullying victimization was measured using the "Students Bullied at School" (SBS) scale, cognitive ability was assessed through standardized math scores, and non-cognitive ability was evaluated using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Socioeconomic data were also collected, encompassing student, family, teacher, and school characteristics. To ensure the robustness of the findings, propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to address potential sample selection bias. RESULTS: The study revealed a high prevalence of bullying victimization in less developed rural China, with boys, older students, and those from single-parent families particularly vulnerable. It highlighted family factors like lower parental education, single parenthood, and maternal migration as predictors of bullying. A higher student-teacher ratio associated with increased bullying incidents. The research linked bullying to diminished cognitive performance, reflected in lower math scores, and adverse impacts on non-cognitive skills, marked by elevated difficulties and diminished prosocial behavior among affected students. CONCLUSIONS: The findings underscore the critical need for targeted interventions to mitigate school bullying in rural China. Understanding the risk factors and the negative consequences of bullying is essential for developing effective prevention strategies and improving student welfare. The study contributes to the literature by providing insights into bullying in underdeveloped areas and by using internationally standardized measures, which enhances the comparability of the results with global studies.