Stewart Shannon L, Withers Abigail, Poss Jeffrey W
Faculty of Education, Western University, 1137 Western Rd, London, ON N6G 1G7, Canada.
School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G5, Canada.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Dec 15;21(12):1673. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21121673.
Amongst school-aged children and youth, bullying is a significant problem warranting further investigation. The current study sought to investigate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic waves and school closures on the bullying experiences of 22,012 children aged 4-18-years-old who were referred and assessed at mental health agencies in Ontario, Canada. Individual, familial, and mental health variables related to bullying experiences were also investigated. Data were collected from January 2017 to February 2022. The pre-pandemic period of study included January to June 2017, September 2018/2019 to June 2019/2020. The pandemic period was divided into categories of remote learning (17 March 2020 to 30 June 2020, 8 January 2021 to 16 February 2021, 12 April 2021 to 30 June 2021) and in-person learning (remaining pandemic dates). The summer holidays pre-pandemic were in July-August 2017, 2018, 2019 and during the pandemic they were in July-August 2020 and 2021. Logistic regressions were conducted to analyze data. Findings related to COVID-19 showed bullying rates to be lower during the pandemic when compared to pre-pandemic levels (bullied others during pandemic in school: OR = 0.44, CI = 0.34-0.57; victim of bullying during pandemic in school: OR = 0.41, CI = 0.33-0.5). Furthermore, bullying rates were lower during the pandemic periods when schools were closed for in-person learning (bullied others during pandemic remote: OR = 0.62, CI = 0.45-0.85; victim of bullying during pandemic remote: OR = 0.24, CI = 0.17-0.34). Children who lived in lower income areas, experienced home life challenges, exhibited mental health difficulties, or had behavioural concerns were more likely to be involved in bullying experiences. Finally, classroom type and school program impacted the child's likelihood of bullying others or being bullied. These findings further our understanding of the impact of school closures on children's mental health and behaviour during the pandemic. Public health and policy implications such as bullying prevention, supervision, and conflict management are discussed.
在学龄儿童和青少年中，欺凌是一个值得进一步调查的重大问题。当前的研究旨在调查新冠疫情各波次及学校停课对22012名4至18岁儿童欺凌经历的影响，这些儿童在加拿大安大略省的心理健康机构接受了转介和评估。还调查了与欺凌经历相关的个人、家庭和心理健康变量。数据收集时间为2017年1月至2022年2月。研究的疫情前时期包括2017年1月至6月、2018年9月/2019年至2019年6月/2020年。疫情时期分为远程学习类别（2020年3月17日至2020年6月30日、2021年1月8日至2021年2月16日、2021年4月12日至2021年6月30日）和面对面学习类别（其余疫情期间日期）。疫情前的暑假在2017年、2018年、2019年的7月至8月，疫情期间的暑假在2020年和2021年的7月至8月。进行了逻辑回归分析数据。与新冠疫情相关的研究结果表明，与疫情前水平相比，疫情期间的欺凌率较低（在学校疫情期间欺负他人：OR = 0.44，CI = 0.34 - 0.57；在学校疫情期间是欺凌受害者：OR = 0.41，CI = 0.33 - 0.5）。此外，在学校停课进行面对面学习的疫情期间，欺凌率较低（在疫情远程学习期间欺负他人：OR = 0.62，CI = 0.45 - 0.85；在疫情远程学习期间是欺凌受害者：OR = 0.24，CI = 0.17 - 0.34）。生活在低收入地区、经历家庭生活挑战、有心理健康问题或有行为问题的儿童更有可能卷入欺凌经历。最后，课堂类型和学校项目影响儿童欺负他人或被欺负的可能性。这些发现进一步加深了我们对疫情期间学校停课对儿童心理健康和行为影响的理解。讨论了诸如欺凌预防、监督和冲突管理等公共卫生和政策影响。
