Bullying Victimization Among Left-Behind Children in Rural China: Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors

Bullying victimization among Chinese school-aged children has recently been recognized as a serious problem. However, studies on the prevalence and correlates of bullying victimization among left-behind children—whose parents live and work in urban areas while they remain at home in a rural area—have fallen far behind. We conducted a study based on one representative sample of 742 left-behind children in Grades 6 to 10 from rural China in 2010. The results indicate that a total of 31.6% of the left-behind children report recurrent bullying victimization, which is higher than that of their rural counterparts who live with their parents. Furthermore, left-behind children who experience bullying victimization are more likely to report being drunk frequently, poorer peer and family relationships, and academic problems. Future bullying prevention and intervention programs should be designed to meet the special needs of left-behind children.