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School Bullying and the Mental Health of Junior Secondary School Students in Hong Kong

NCJ Number
222049
Journal
Journal of School Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: 2008 Pages: 3-20
Author(s)
Josephine W.Y. Ng; Sandra K.M. Tsang
Date Published
2008
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of school bullying and its effect on the mental health of junior secondary school students in Hong Kong.
Abstract
Results indicate that verbal bullying was the most frequently observed, acted, and experienced bullying behavior. The relationship between school bullying and health consequences is confirmed and shown for the first time in Hong Kong. There is a significant relation amongst the scores on victim scales, scores on mental health, and the scores on the psychological scales. The mental health of the victims and the bully victims were poorer than that of others. After an indepth exploration of the role of gender in bullying, gender was found to be a mediator between school bullying and the mental health of students. Female students suffered more than male students from mental health, anxiety, depression, and had inadequate coping skills. School bullying has been identified in all areas of the world as a serious problem for school-aged children. This research study addressed (1) the nature and extent of school bullying in Hong Kong, (2) the gender-specific pattern in school bullying behaviors, (3) the relationship among peer victimization, gender, and mental health, and (4) the predictive power of participant role and gender with regard to mental health. A cross-sectional survey was completed in 2003 by 366 secondary school students, both boys and girls, in Hong Kong. Tables, references