Junior High School Students Perceived School Climate And Bullying Relationship

School bullying is quite common among adolescents, which can affect the physical and psychosocial health of adolescents involved. In order to explore the association of perceived school climate with school bullying, 918 junior middle school children from 13 middle schools in JiNan were surveyed. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses with victimizations as the dependent variable indicated that, among all school climate variables, teacher-student relationship, student-student affiliation and disciplinary climate were uniquely negatively and academic pressure was independently positively associated with victimizations, controlling for gender and self-esteem. Two-way interactions between school climate and self-esteem showed that among adolescents low in self-esteem those perceiving low levels of student-student affiliation or high levels of academic pressure reported more victimizations. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses with bullying behaviors as the dependent variable indicated that, among all school climate variables, student-student affiliation and disciplinary climate were independently negatively associated with bullying behaviors, adjusting for gender and effortful control. Two-way interactions between school climate and effortful control indicated that among adolescents low in effortful control those who perceived high levels of teacher-student relationship, low levels of parental involvement, low levels of academic pressure or low levels of disciplinary climate reported more bullying behaviors.