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

Abstract

Objective: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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). Conclusion: 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.