The effects of individual characteristics, family backgrounds, and school region factors on students’ bullying: A multilevel analysis of public middle schools in China

This study investigated the effects of individual characteristics (gender, performance, critical thinking and rates of absenteeism), communicating effectively, solving the conflict, school experiences (positive and frustrating), and school region factors (rural, county, city and province-wide information) on adolescents' verbal, physical, psychological bullying behaviors and bullying behaviors through Internet. A random sample of 7194 7th–12th grade students from 36 public middle schools in Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangxi Province, China was selected for this study. A self-report questionnaire survey was administered. The results showed that during the previous semester, 8.3% of the students had ever bullied other students physically while 17% had verbally bullied others, 10.5% of the students had ever bullied other students psychological while 11.4% had bullying behaviors through Internet, 10.6% of the students had ever been bullied by other students physically while 31.4% had verbally been bullied, 22.8% of the students had ever been bullied by other students psychological while 12.8% had been bullied through Internet. Hierarchical linear modeling was employed to conduct a two-level analysis. Individual characteristics including Grade level, gender, rates of absenteeism, peer conflict resolution, positive school experiences were found to significantly contribute to bullying. Family background characteristics, including father's educational level and child rearing patterns, were also associated with bullying. School region, different provinces, different regions of China significantly were found to significantly contribute to bullying behaviors. Weak economies in the region were positively associated with bullying. Implications were discussed.