Bullying Perpetration and Homophobic Teasing: Mediation through Gender Role Attitudes.

Homophobic teasing or name-calling, one form of school-related gender-based violence, refers to the use of derogatory language or actions towards sexual- or gender-nonconforming individuals. Research in the Global North has indicated that it is highly prevalent among adolescents, and is associated with a broad range of negative outcomes for both victims and perpetrators. However, such behaviors remain understudied in China. Using a cross-sectional design, the present study investigated the structural relations between homophobic teasing, bullying perpetration, and gender role attitudes among 1915 Chinese high school students. The results showed that 11.5% of the participants had perpetrated such harassment in the past month. Structural equation analyses revealed that bullying perpetration predicted more teasing involvement, and that the relationship was partially mediated by gender role attitudes among both female and male youth. The moderation effect of sex was found only for the direct effect of bullying; such that males who engaged in bullying were more likely to perpetrate homophobic teasing than females. These findings suggest the need for further examination and effective interventions and preventions for the behavior in Chinese contexts.

Does Friend Support Matter? The Association between Gender Role Attitudes and School Bullying among Male Adolescents in China.

This study investigated the association between gender role attitudes, perceived friend support, and school bullying among male adolescents from 11 schools in two cities in China. A total of 3172 Chinese adolescents between 12 and 20 years of age (48.80% girls and 51.20% boys) completed questionnaires that included measures of bullying, gender role attitudes, and perceived social support. In terms of outcome measures, the Chinese version of the Illinois Bully Scale (IBS), Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA), and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) were used to assess bullying perpetration, gender role attitudes, and perceived friend support, respectively. Based on masculinity theories and the stress-buffering theory, the study found that male adolescents held more traditional gender role attitudes (t = 30.78, p < 0.001) and reported higher prevalence of bullying behaviors (36.02%) than girls (31.20%). In addition, boys' bullying behaviors were significantly predicted by gender role attitudes through perceived friend support. That is, male youth with more conservative gender role attitudes reported less perceived friend support (adjusted OR = 1.055; SE = 0.013), which elevated their risks of bullying perpetration (adjusted OR = 2.082; SE = 0.302). These findings have critical implications for bullying intervention and prevention through gender equity education.

Association between Child Abuse, Depression, and School Bullying among Chinese Secondary School Students.

INTRODUCTION: School bullying is a serious social and public health problem. This article aims to explore the association between experiences of childhood abuse and involvement in school bullying, especially considering the mediating effects of depression. METHODS: The sample of this study was 3059 students (1584 males and 1475 females) aged from 12 to 20, in eleven Chinese secondary schools, which included six middle schools, four high schools, and one vocational high school in both urban and rural areas. The multinomial logit regression and linear regression were conducted by the two gender groups, to determine the mediating effect of depression in the association between child abuse experiences and involvement in school bullying. RESULTS: This study indicated that female students were less likely to be involved in school bullying. Male students were more represented in the bully-victim group and experienced more physical and mental abuse during childhood. Depression was a mediator between childhood abuse and involvement in school bullying. Nevertheless, there was a gender difference in that depression fully mediated the relationship between the two variables among female students, while it only partially meditated such a relationship for male students. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that more school-based service interventions and evidence-based research are needed to more thoroughly investigate school bullying and its predictors in China.

Gaps in the 2010 measles SIA coverage among migrant children in Beijing: evidence from a parental survey.

China suffers from high incidence of measles partly due to high population mobility and low vaccination rates among migrants. In this study, we assessed the vaccination coverage of the nationwide measles supplementary immunization activity (SIA) of 2010 and its determinants among migrant children in Beijing. Information was collected through face-to-face interviews with the caregivers of 589 migrant children at train and long-distance bus stations in January 2011, when migrants were traveling home for the Chinese New Year holiday. We estimated that 83.4% of migrant children aged 8 months to 14 years received the measles vaccine during the SIA. This estimated coverage is lower than the official report of 96% among all eligible children in Beijing. Factors associated with being unvaccinated through the SIA included children being at home or in the kindergarten, living in a single-child family, and having a parent who was unaware of the SIA or who had a low level of trust in the government-administered measles campaign. We recommend more focused targeting on migrant children in future measles vaccination campaigns, improved immunization service delivery in unregulated migrant-run kindergartens and at the community level, as well as development of more effective communication methods to reach disadvantaged migrants.