Effect of ecological factors on bullying behavior in primary and high school students in Benxi city: a cross-sectional study

  Objective  To explore the prevalence and influencing factors of bullying behavior among primary and high school students in Benxi city of Liaoning province.

  Methods  An anonymous self-administrated questionnaire survey was conducted among 4 008 pupils (grade 4 and above) and high school students selected with multistage cluster random sampling in Benxi city between April and June 2012. χ² test was used to compare the differences in bullying behavior by gender, grade, family cohesion, school cohesion and number of friends. Logistic regression method was used to analyze influencing factors.

  Results  Of all the students, 12.9% reported the involvement in bullying and 2.5%, 6.5%, and 3.9% reported bulling behavior, being bullied, and both bulling and being bullied, respectively. The boy students reported a significantly higher rate of bulling involvement than the girl students (P < 0.001). The results of logistic regression analysis demonstrated that alcohol drinking (odds ratio OR = 2.436), fighting (OR = 2.097), violent family education (OR = 1.678), and frequent contact with friends (OR = 2.224) were risk factors of bullying; loneliness (OR = 1.609), hopelessness (OR = 1.651), and learning stress (OR = 1.707) were the risk factors of being bullied; whereas, having a sense of despair frequently (OR = 3.407), smoking (OR = 2.758), fighting (OR = 1.720), watching violent video (OR = 2.018), and violent family education (OR = 1.520) were risk factors of bullying and being bullied.

  Conclusion  Bullying behavior among primary and high school students is associated with personal, school and family factors and comprehensive actions should be taken to prevent bullying among the students．