The rising trend of emotional bullying in an Eastern Chinese City: a five-year epidemiological study among school-aged children (2020–2024)

TL;DR

This study tracks a significant rise in emotional bullying among schoolchildren in Jinan, China, from 2020 to 2024, highlighting the need for targeted interventions.

Contribution

The study provides a five-year epidemiological analysis of emotional bullying trends among school-aged children in an Eastern Chinese city.

Findings

Emotional bullying prevalence increased from 10.5% in 2020 to 14.6% in 2024.

Males reported higher rates of all bullying types compared to females.

Primary schools had the highest prevalence of total and physical bullying.

Abstract

To investigate the epidemiological characteristics and temporal trends of school bullying, with a particular emphasis on emotional forms, among students in Jinan, China, from 2020 to 2024.

Data were collected from the Jinan Student Common Diseases and Health Influencing Factors Surveillance. A total of 84,289 participants were included through a stratified random cluster sampling design. The study assessed the prevalence and subtypes of school bullying, encompassing both physical and emotional bullying, and analyzed trends over 5 years.

The overall prevalence of school bullying significantly increased from 10.5% in 2020 to 14.6% in 2024 (p < 0.001). Notably, emotional bullying (14.4%) was markedly more prevalent than physical bullying (1.9%) in 2024. Significant disparities by sex were observed, with males reporting higher rates of total (16.4% vs. 12.7%), physical (2.4% vs. 1.4%), and emotional bullying (16.1% vs. 12.5%) compared to females (p < 0.001). While no significant urban-rural differences were found for total or emotional bullying, physical bullying was more common in urban areas (2.1% vs. 1.7%, p = 0.028). Primary schools exhibited the highest prevalence of total (17.4%) and physical bullying (2.8%). An analysis of emotional bullying subtypes revealed significant increases in teasing (from 9.4% to 13.3%), extortion (from 1.2% to 1.5%), and social exclusion (from 3.0% to 5.8%) from 2020 to 2024 (p < 0.001).

School bullying, particularly emotional bullying, has risen significantly among students in Jinan. This increasing trend, especially in emotional bullying among younger students, underscores a critical public health issue that necessitates targeted intervention strategies. These findings provide valuable insights for developing evidence-based anti-bullying policies in Jinan and similar urban settings in China.

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